Pipework and flooring

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by Scott Ronson, Aug 13, 2019.

  1. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Hi apologies if not right group but I guess this is something the professional trades come up against , what is the best way to get to the pipework under flooring , the chipboard panels are bigger than the room so would need to be cut but not sure best way to go about it ?
     
  2. teabreak

    teabreak Screwfix Select

    Depends on the situation, one way pipes can push through parallel with the joists, an option if you can access from a cellar or neighbouring room.
    Otherwise each joist will have to be notched along the whole run.
    Locate the joists by the nail heads and cut a small trap out at one end with a plunge cutting circular saw set to just reach the board thickness check for live cables and pipes with a detector and cross your fingers hoping for the best. Then you can look under the floor with a mirror and torch to see what you are up against. Chipboard is rotten stuff for floorboards worth replacing removed chipboard with timber boards (expensive) or 18mm ply.
     
  3. Heat

    Heat Screwfix Select

    The chipboard sheets will be installed with the shortest side (width) centred on top of a joist.
    Usually only the longest sides have tongue joints and you can carefully cut that tongue using a hand saw or a circular saw or a multitool.
    Personally I use a hand saw or multi tool.
    Got to be careful not to cut lower than chipboard depth to cut joists or pipes, wires, etc.
    If you wish to only remove part of a sheet you could try blade of saw to where it touches a joist and mark each side on floor with pencil. Then allow extra 15mm at least to mark cut line above centre of joist.
    A good tip would be to always cut the sheets square by measuring accurately from other end of sheet.
     
  4. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Thank you both , I'm gonna try the circular saw set at 16mm and man handle the rest out , there is 5 15mm pipes and one 22mm pipe running right across where I need to cut ! Last person under there has connected about 20cm of microbore to the 15 mm and then to the rad , I'm trying to replace the micro back to 15mm
     
  5. Heat

    Heat Screwfix Select

    I don’t know how experienced you are with the tools, but if you do use circular saw one tip is to screw a straight edge piece of timber lathe to the chipboard floor at an exact distance to suit the circular saw blade to side of saw measurement.
    Makes cutting easy and accurate.
    Don’t use too long screws through the lathe. :)
    Circular saws unfortunately remove a lot of wood and therefore create a lot of wood dust and a large joint
     
  6. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    I did a job last year which involved getting 22mm from the airing cupboard to the bathroom as I was fitting a shower pump. Rather than cut up all the flooring, I used a 150mm hole saw(approx) to cut a hole just back from each joist. Just enough to get a drill and spade bit in to drill each joist and enough space to thread 22mm pex through.
    Worked superbly, very little mess and pretty quick. Couple of short lengths of 3x2 screwed back in under the hole, and the disc of chipboard screwed back in and job done.
     
    WillyEckerslike likes this.
  7. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Thank you, problem I have is someone has joined 10mm microbore to 15mm under the floor and I need to get the floor up to cut the microbore out and replace it so I can put a new rad in the bathroom
     
  8. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Yeah I know its messy I was going to replace what I cut out with new 18mm chipboard as I have a sheet so cutting that to size should fill the gaps I'm also going to fly over that to give me a flat surface for the new flooring , great idea about the price of timber I'm going to do that
     
  9. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    This is what I need to change so that I have two 15mm coming up out of the floor instead of the microbore out of the wall !
     

    Attached Files:

  10. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    This is how close the pipework is , touching the floor hence I'm worried about the cutting
     

    Attached Files:

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