Replacing old water tank in attic

donaghs

Hi, I've been living for just over a year in a two-story house built in the early 70s. There's an old galvanised steel water tank in the attic which I'd like to replace. It just looks old, may be a little silty (and any thing else that might have fallen into it). Anyone got any advice on replacing these? e.g. personal experience, the work and cost involved, and how to dispose of the old one.

For a start, most attics only have small entrance lid to get into them. How do you get the tank out without breaking a much larger hole through the ceiling?

John Mason

I replaced mine during the summer. the plumber took about 1/2 hours to do it. I left the old one in the attic, the only way to get it out is to take an angle grinder to it and break it down.

You have to make sure you measure the attic enterance exactly and to make sure you get a take that will fit through. It was a really small gap in my place, so i coffin plastic tank, it was about 5 foot long i think but very narrow.

The Plumber cost me €70.00 just for the labour and i purchased the tank seperately (actually i got it for free) and the plumber charged mates rates, so i dont know what the actual cost would be

whosedaddy?

Get the tank replaced. Not only cause of whats in it, but they corrode as well. I had corroded tank that leaked..

I refitted it myself. can be done quite easily (but you need some tools).
If your not certain you can do it - get a plumber!

If old tank doesn't fit through trap door - DON'T use angle grinder to cut it , your local firebrigade don't want to receive your call :-)

Use a jigsaw - may take longer and some blades, but you won't have sparks flying about.

We were lucky - a) tank fitted through, b) we had bulky waste collection that week. - Otherwise I'd call the recycling centres - they should take it as scrap metal.

Tails142

LOL - I remember when I was a kid we put a new tank in our attic.

I was up helping my dad; we were trying to siphon the remnants of water out of the old tank and into the new...I'm not exactly sure why now ...anyway we got the call for dinner and proceeded down...

Somehow while we were down eating dinner, the pipe we had left over the edge of the tank kicked into action and water begain pouring out. The first indication we got was water beginning to trickle down the wall of the kitchen

Anyway, my point is, be careful if you're siphoning. Also, angle grinding doesnt sound like a good idea near insulation, our old tank is still in the attic too.

10-10-20

Kingspan do a coffin-tank range called Titan... http://www.environmental-containers.com/environmental/titan_environmental/products/ferham/cold-water.asp#4
You will also need a lid to go with the tank. You can source them from Chadwicks or the like. You may need two interlinked to makeup the capacity of the unit you are removing.

John Mason

whosedaddy? wrote: »

DON'T use angle grinder to cut it , your local firebrigade don't want to receive your call :-)

.

maybe i didnt mean angle grinder - whats that thing called to cut metal with? anyway, i didnt bother, i just left mine up there