Is ~180 kg of steel rad. (without water) ok to hang on a single brick wall which itself sits on top of a double glazed uPVC bay window? (It's 4 small rads in fact).
- posted
9 years ago
central heating - radiator weights
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- posted
9 years ago
Yes. The bay window *should* have structural support (usually poles) built in - or be otherwise supported (poss cantilver?)
180kg = 2-3 adults or one super fat bloke - so if your bay cannot take 4-5 adults standing in it, you are in trouble anyway.The brick wall bit is fine.
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- posted
9 years ago
I think you may have missed a bit. I understand the wall to be over the bay and UPVC replacement windows often don't have much support built into them. Are the original pillars still in place or has the whole bay become PVC? I'd want to check to see how tall the wall is and how it is supported before I hung anything really heavy on it. I read it that this is in the room above? The floor joists, I take it run parallel to the window? Is there a lintel?
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- posted
9 years ago
No - I didn't miss that.
If they are in a bay, they *should* (ie *must*) have the appropriate support bars built in unless other means of support is provided.
Of course, some cowboy might skip this bit but the windows would probably be buckling or cracking after a while.
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- posted
9 years ago
Oh and the other point I made was that if the wall could not stand
180kg, a couple of adults in the bay would have broken something by now.Unless the joists are cantilevered but the wall is not connected to them... Which seems unlikely.
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- posted
9 years ago
If the radiators are mounted in the front of the bay, the loading is going to be higher as a result of the leverage effect. Hopefully the brickwork will act as a lintel.
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- posted
9 years ago
Glad I asked now - before starting to fit the rads.
The bay brickwork is 75 cm high. Just a single coarse of bricks. The floor is 2.3 cm T&G wooden floor on joists to window sill. The joist run parallel to the bay.
At the moment there is a heavy storage heater sitting in the bay - but of course that is sitting on the floor (not even a bracket to tie it to the wall.)
When (if) the rads are installed, am I right in thinking the force will be on the brick wall only. That wall sits on top of the upvc double glazed window below.
Should I take up some floorboards in the bay to try and see if there is something there that will show how it's built? (mr clueless about this).
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- posted
9 years ago
Yes.
No harm in having a look - post some pics via tinypic or similar and post the links here - then others can have a look.
Bricks are not light and I stand by my statement that the wall must be supported (and not just sitting on a pure uPVC window - but rather one with internal steel poles - a standard options for bays).