pipes: bury or box in?

[Stephen]

Hello,

The ensuite in the loft conversion is directly overhead the bathroom. As I am about to tile the bathroom, I was wondering what to do with the hot and cold water pipes that run up to the en suite. Should I box them into a corner or as I have removed the plasterboard to tile, should I take this opportunity to put them inside the wall?

I realise a box would be more accessible but how often do you need to access pipes? After all, most of them seem to be buried beneath carpet and floorboards?

Thanks, Stephen.

[tabbypurr]

or decorate them

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I have a thing about boxed in pipes or having them showing, so there are none here. All inside partition walls, or under the floor. Never had a leak - but all pipes are copper with capillary joints.

[Brian-Gaff]

Well ours have been in the wall for many years, but the problem I might have soon is in the shower, where the old unit is Imperial and most new ones are metric, and probably differently spaced, and the chances of matching old tiles probably very low.

Brian

[tabbypurr]

hence one always keeps a few spare tiles

[Tim Watts]

No to bury.

Paint is OK and boxing is not too hard and does leave them accessible.

You have not mentioned "polish to bright shinyness".

Or are you married?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes to bury.

Boxing still has to be removed and plasterboard walls are as easy to make good

[F Murtz]

Bury them If you hard silver solder like Australia does or box in if you soft solder like the UK does :)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Right. I've waited some 40 years for a soft soldered UK joint to fail, of which there are probably a hundred or so here. How much longer before one does? ;-)

[Chris French]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

There was a leaking soldered joint here - it was in the airing cupboard and must have been going on slowly for some years, as there was quite a bit of scale encrusting the pipe where it had dribbled down. - I'm guessing at least 40 years old.

I had another leak, but this was a pinhole leak in a pipe supplying the bath under the floor - fortunately fairy accessible, though it did make a mess of the artex ceiling in the dining room. Might have been a bit more recent pipework but at least 20.

I'd put the pipes in the wall, unlikley to need to need to access them, no worse than being under the floor. Not hard to make good if access is every required. And I don't like surface pipes - we have them all over the places here, ugly, collect dirt around them etc. and I don't really like boxing in if can be avoided.

[ARW]

with a pair of knickers?

[Chris French]

In message , ARW writes

At least before it was neat and tidy and inoffensive. Now we have a big patch where it is stained, and quite a bit has come loose, some has fallen off etc.

[Stephen]

That's reassuring, thanks. I guess you just have to choose a wall to put them in where no-one is likely to try and nail a picture on the other side!

Thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen]

Oh, the other posts had almost convinced me to do that!

I'm not a fan of painted pipes. Whilst I can see the appeal of having them accessible, I'm not quite sure accessible for what? Hopefully being inside they would never freeze.

I did wonder about using chrome pipe but I was thinking about lagging everything, so I thought I would hide the pipes. I posted a question about lagging the HW and CH pipes but the replies seemed to suggest it was not worth doing.

Thanks, Stephen.

[Stephen]

Thanks. I had only considered pipes freezing, not leaking. I thought if I used soldered joints I could put the pipes in the wall as I thought they were quite permanent. I had not realised they could leak. It sounds like you were unlucky.

That's what I was thinking. People have no qualms burying them under the floor, so why not the wall? I think you just need to avoid screwing a shelf or nailing a picture into them.

Thanks, Stephen.

[Chris French]

In message , Stephen writes

Well mostly they don't but inevitably there will be the odd one, like anything else. Freezing should be an issue (more than anywhere else) assuming that the house is heated.

This is a plasterboard partition wall IIRC, assuming you run the pipe down the middle, it's unlikely to get hit by a nail/screw.

[sm_jamieson]

Anyone know why do they use brazing in Australia for water pipes ?

Simon.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Wodney lives in Oz. I rest my case.

[polygonum]

In a possibly similar situation I used plastic pipe - from a roll - and made sure there were no joints in the wall. My pipe is within a gap between the rough wall and plasterboard.

Of course someone could bang a nail through, but I think that unlikely while I am around.