Our central heating pipes drop down from the ceiling and there's obviously a bit of space around them. What's normally done to tidy this up when decorating? Boxing in would obviously be an option but haven't decided whether to do that yet or not, is there a good way if they're going to be left exposed?
They look quite neat what about giving them a rub with wire wool then clear varnish, make a feature of them, but it would depend on your decor in the rest of the room,
Yeah wouldn't be against that. I realise I didn't write the post very well though - I was more unsure what to do about the hole in the plasterboard if I leave them bare?
If you were to leave them swap the plastic clips for brass ones, others on here will comment on tidying up the ceiling
The easiest way to deal with the hole is to stuff some insulation wool or squirt some expanding foam into it, then trim it back to slightly recessed, and then apply some filler (plaster, or other), sand and then paint.
I am a heating guy and tbh where I had to fill any holes in ceilings I used Bonding plaster. And before anyone says it corrodes copper pipes, - it doesn’t and won’t do any harm on dry areas anyhow. One tip is when the plaster is starting to set a little, is to give the pipes a slight shake to slacken them in the new plaster to allow movement as they expand and contact later. Personally I prefer the plastic clips (as brass SB clips are a bit crude at holding against the copper and are difficult to use 2 accurate drilled screws on each clip. I also prefer the copper to be kept unpainted. On drop pipes close to a corner, a small casing looks ok. Out further on a wall looks poor.
On the first pipe drop, you should be able to get away with pipe cover, as these look like talon clips. https://www.screwfix.com/p/talon-15...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKiJk8jhstwCFdIX0wodkuQG6w Agree with heat the second drop wont look good covered over as is far out from corner. Look at using expanding foam to close the gap, once set trim back with a fine saw, and remove deeper so you can put a thin layer of filler over it. Plaster needs some backing for support so will fall out, the foam would help with this, keeping the plaster more stable. Not too fussy if pipes get boxed in or covered, as they do look nice and neat with good offsets, so once painted will blend in with the colour of the room
The offset pipes in the second photo are not in same position in relation to each other. Perhaps also not bent accurate. I would prefer those pipes with the bend closer to the ceiling and the pipe clips not as close to the lower bend. That way the offsets will appear smaller