Pipe under screed floor.

[DavE7339]

I am not a plumber. My friend had a conservatory built and they extended her central heating but buried the flow and return pipe under the floor. There is only one flow and return pipe feeding 2 radiators so I assume they have split the pipes under the screed to feed both rads.My understanding is that the pipe should be continuous and should be housed in another pipe so it can be removed if there are any problems. Also connectors should not be buried. I am considering telling them to rip up the floor and do it correctly unless someone tells me that this is acceptable. Any help and pointers to any building regs etc would be appreciated.

 

[JVTrades]

You can’t necessarily say it’s been done wrong but it hasn’t been done well either from what I can see. There is nothing wrong with putting fittings for water/heating pipes under the screed. Compression fittings for gas under the screed is not allowed and this is maybe what you’ve heared. The pipes should ideally be lagged.

 

[DavE7339]

I was led to believe that as the pipes are now there is no room for expansion or contraction so it could lead to failure in the joint and leaks.

 

[rpm]

Bad practice to put any joint where you can't see it full stop!

 

[DavE7339]

Does it come under Water supply Regulations
Schedule 2: paragraph 7?
No water fitting shall be embedded in any wall or solid floor’

This requirement applies to water fittings in a building which are supplied with mains water. It does not however apply to closed circuit systems specifically designed to be embedded in a solid floor such as underfloor heating systems or manifold systems for wet radiators, which may be embedded provided that:

• the pipework is laid as a continuous loop without joints; and
  
  
• all connections are above floor level and accessible; and
  
  
• all materials are suitable for such installations: copper pipework
  
  would be required to be protected for example by means of a plastic coating.
  

 

[SimonG]

Just love it when somebody comes on and answers their own question.

Is there a thermostat in conservatory and is the pipework on its own zone?

 

[DavE7339]

Not quite sure what you mean SimonG.
Should it have its own thermostat and what is its own zone? Is it a separate system?
Just after a bit of advice really from the professionals.

 

[snowhead]

Picture 2 shows a Tee at the bottom of the tail up to the rad, so if the other tail also has a tee there probably aren't any joints under the rest of the floor, just under the rads.

 

[king of pipes]

Not quite sure what you mean SimonG.
Should it have its own thermostat and what is its own zone? Is it a separate system?
Just after a bit of advice really from the professionals.

Dig deeper my friend you will find the answer and no it's not good practice to screed over pipework with push fit fittings attached. Cheers kop

 

[DavE7339]

Picture 2 shows a Tee at the bottom of the tail up to the rad, so if the other tail also has a tee there probably aren't any joints under the rest of the floor, just under the rads.

Thanks for that. I thought they were both elbows. I will go double check.

 

[DavE7339]

Dig deeper my friend you will find the answer and no it's not good practice to screed over pipework with push fit fittings attached. Cheers kop

Thanks.

 

[skoronesa]

Where I live we are allowed to bury couplings, and I think we can even bury fittings for heat pipes. That said you will almost never see a legitimate heating journeyman do so. With pex pipe there really isnt a need to as it is flexible and cheap. We always cover our pipes with insulation if they are to be in concrete except for radiant systems.

 

[dancinplumba]

Where I live we are allowed to bury couplings, and I think we can even bury fittings for heat pipes. That said you will almost never see a legitimate heating journeyman do so. With pex pipe there really isnt a need to as it is flexible and cheap. We always cover our pipes with insulation if they are to be in concrete except for radiant systems.

you from the US ?

 

[rpm]

you from the US ?

That`s what his profile say`s mate, how did you know?

 

[dancinplumba]

That`s what his profile say`s mate, how did you know?

Journeymen, PEX, Radiant , they gave him away

 

[skoronesa]

When you guys do radiant, how often do the builders put nails/screws through it? We had one job, pex in climate panels. The guys putting the hardwood floor down put 7 nails through the radiant in just one room.

Usually we put 90psi of air on the pex when we know they will be workig above it. This way they know when they hit it and can mark it for us to fix.

 

[Scott_D]

Fill it with water
They will be more careful after getting g wet