Original plumbing in house we have bid on.

Hi folks,

Hope you might be able to help. We've a bid in on a house in Dublin, and I was taking a further look at the videos that the estate agent has sent on. The place has been rewired, but I can see that it's still original plumbing running to the radiators. It's not 1/2 inch copper, but instead it's that old piping that they just seemed to bend at will to get it to where they needed it to go.

Now the house is in marvelous condition, and keen to view, but I'd like to know if having this original piping would impact the installation of an air-to-heat pump, and all the other miracles of modern plumbing we have come to expect - power showers, zoned heating etc. I presume it does, but would like clarification.

Secondly, if it needed to be replumbed then what would be the ballpark figure for a traditional 60s built 2 storey semi-detached in suburban Dublin? 125 square meters. They've done a lovely job on it, but I know a replumb involves lifting tiles, cangoing floors, ripping out the hot press, a lot of time in the attic, and generally a lot of expense. If you can even find a plumber in the first place. :eek:

Ubbquittious

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Hi folks,

Hope you might be able to help. We've a bid in on a house in Dublin, and I was taking a further look at the videos that the estate agent has sent on. The place has been rewired, but I can see that it's still original plumbing running to the radiators. It's not 1/2 inch copper, but instead it's that old piping that they just seemed to bend at will to get it to where they needed it to go.

Now the house is in marvelous condition, and keen to view, but I'd like to know if having this original piping would impact the installation of an air-to-heat pump, and all the other miracles of modern plumbing we have come to expect - power showers, zoned heating etc. I presume it does, but would like clarification.

Secondly, if it needed to be replumbed then what would be the ballpark figure for a traditional 60s built 2 storey semi-detached in suburban Dublin? 125 square meters. They've done a lovely job on it, but I know a replumb involves lifting tiles, cangoing floors, ripping out the hot press, a lot of time in the attic, and generally a lot of expense. If you can even find a plumber in the first place. :eek:

Qual pex? They are all using that now. I wouldn't worry about it once its not leaking

Ubbquittious

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Qual pex? They are all using that now. I wouldn't worry about it once its not leaking

No, not plastic piping. Original copper from under the floor to the valve, and a modern valve used to take in the original piping (presuming 3/8"s) to feed into the rads. It's not modern plumbing. It's the original plumbing used to feed the showers, toilets, rads etc. Not quite the era of gunbarrel, but we are talking pre-80's plumbing here.



I'm wondering if that original 3/8 piping would impact the delivery of things like pressurised shower systems (I think I know the answer), and, more importantly, what would be a ball park figure for the replumb of a house of approx 125 sqm.

Atlantic Dawn

If going air-to-heat you will basically have to gut the place and come in circa €70k plus, replumbing at this outlay is much of a muchness.

policarp

If it's not Qualpex it might be Acorn.
Used back in the 80 s.

Interested Observer

Deleted User wrote: »

Secondly, if it needed to be replumbed then what would be the ballpark figure for a traditional 60s built 2 storey semi-detached in suburban Dublin? 125 square meters. They've done a lovely job on it, but I know a replumb involves lifting tiles, cangoing floors, ripping out the hot press, a lot of time in the attic, and generally a lot of expense. If you can even find a plumber in the first place. :eek:

I had gun-barrel in my house (I suppose technically I still do because all the pipes are still there just not in use :pac:), this is for the heating alone now the actual water/taps didn't need to be done, but replacing all the pipes, the rads and gas boiler didn't leave much change from 10k. We have suspended timber floors so access wasn't too bad, the only destructive work they had to do was digging up concrete in an extension but that was only a small amount, we also had a modern-ish tank in the attic that was fine to leave alone so they didn't really have to do much there.

Sleeper12

Plumbing pipes aren't like electric cables that might need updating every few decade. The main issue is that it probably isn't insulated.

Interested Observer

Interested Observer wrote: »

I had gun-barrel in my house

I've also gb pipe in my central heating.
You can tell if its BG by sticking a magnet to it.
If it sticks it steal pipe (GB).

You read online people saying it will rust out/leak but that depends on the install & if its been maintained.
I've cut sections of mine open and it looks like new (its 50+ years old).

Someday I'll replace it but leaving well enough alone!

Interested Observer

BrownFinger wrote: »

I've also gb pipe in my central heating.
You can tell if its BG by sticking a magnet to it.
If it sticks it steal pipe (GB).

You read online people saying it will rust out/leak but that depends on the install & if its been maintained.
I've cut sections of mine open and it looks like new (its 50+ years old).

Someday I'll replace it but leaving well enough alone!

Ours was completely rotten. Running the heat for an hour would live an incredible amount of filings on the magnetic filter of the gas boiler, all that stuff was just constantly circulating so we decided to get rid of it. Our house is 100+ years old so maybe another 50 and you'll need to replace yours!!

listermint

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No, not plastic piping. Original copper from under the floor to the valve, and a modern valve used to take in the original piping (presuming 3/8"s) to feed into the rads. It's not modern plumbing. It's the original plumbing used to feed the showers, toilets, rads etc. Not quite the era of gunbarrel, but we are talking pre-80's plumbing here.



I'm wondering if that original 3/8 piping would impact the delivery of things like pressurised shower systems (I think I know the answer), and, more importantly, what would be a ball park figure for the replumb of a house of approx 125 sqm.

Have gun barrel in ours 79 construction. Have checked it several times and it's in very good condition throughout . Powerflushed etc.

Often people are told to do things that are not necessary to do without actually checking first.

GreeBo

Deleted User wrote: »

Hi folks,

Hope you might be able to help. We've a bid in on a house in Dublin, and I was taking a further look at the videos that the estate agent has sent on. The place has been rewired, but I can see that it's still original plumbing running to the radiators. It's not 1/2 inch copper, but instead it's that old piping that they just seemed to bend at will to get it to where they needed it to go.

Now the house is in marvelous condition, and keen to view, but I'd like to know if having this original piping would impact the installation of an air-to-heat pump, and all the other miracles of modern plumbing we have come to expect - power showers, zoned heating etc. I presume it does, but would like clarification.

Secondly, if it needed to be replumbed then what would be the ballpark figure for a traditional 60s built 2 storey semi-detached in suburban Dublin? 125 square meters. They've done a lovely job on it, but I know a replumb involves lifting tiles, cangoing floors, ripping out the hot press, a lot of time in the attic, and generally a lot of expense. If you can even find a plumber in the first place. :eek:

Can you take a pic of the piping you are talking about?
What colour is it?
Acorn would be grey.
Qualpex orange


If you are moving to a heatpump then your temps will be far lower so you are going to need different rads to achieve the same output.

GreeBo

listermint wrote: »

Have gun barrel in ours 79 construction. Have checked it several times and it's in very good condition throughout . Powerflushed etc.

Often people are told to do things that are not necessary to do without actually checking first.

I have it in an 80 year old house and it many areas its fine but in others its flaking and rusting, especially around the rad valves.

Either way I would always recommend a magnetic filter.

MacDanger

We were looking at a 60/70s house with original plumbing which looked to be in pretty decent shape; I spoke to a friend of mine involved in building and he said it's probably fine now but if you plan to live in the house for 40-50 years more, it'll need replacing at some stage so you need to budget for that cost at some stage

Sleeper12

listermint wrote:

Often people are told to do things that are not necessary to do without actually checking first.

A lot of young plumbers are afraid of gun barrel because they have never worked with it. Some will tell you that it needs to be ripped out when it could be perfect.

Sleeper12

Sleeper12 wrote: »

A lot of young plumbers are afraid of gun barrel because they have never worked with it. Some will tell you that it needs to be ripped out when it could be perfect.

I know how to thread pipe from my electrical days but recently had to thread two GB pop ups to move a rad at home.
My god it was some pain in the swiss.

They still install it in industrial jobs.

Curious_Case

Sleeper12 wrote: »

A lot of young plumbers are afraid of gun barrel because they have never worked with it. Some will tell you that it needs to be ripped out when it could be perfect.

Yes, gun barrel can be in excellent shape after 50 years as long as the OUTSIDE of it is dry.

Adapters for connecting to compression type fittings are widely available.

The poblems with gun barrel are threading it and also the fact that if there's a leak at a joint you can't always tighten it a bit more.

listermint

GreeBo wrote: »

I have it in an 80 year old house and it many areas its fine but in others its flaking and rusting, especially around the rad valves.

Either way I would always recommend a magnetic filter.

Installed a Magclean 2 after powerflush last year.

listermint

BrownFinger wrote: »

I know how to thread pipe from my electrical days but recently had to thread two GB pop ups to move a rad at home.
My god it was some pain in the swiss.

They still install it in industrial jobs.

Tbh it's handy with the right tools and lubrication

The Mulk

Deleted User wrote: »

Hi folks,

Hope you might be able to help. We've a bid in on a house in Dublin, and I was taking a further look at the videos that the estate agent has sent on. The place has been rewired, but I can see that it's still original plumbing running to the radiators. It's not 1/2 inch copper, but instead it's that old piping that they just seemed to bend at will to get it to where they needed it to go.

Is it microbore copper pipe?
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/help-adjusting-rad-pipes-and-microbore-to-15mm.479127/

I had a 70's house that i had to strip out within the last few years. Every joint leaked, with the smallest of disturbance, some bends were blocked
It was one zone for everything, so i upgraded it to 3 zones. I used qualpex everywhere and replaced all the rads.
The rest of the plumbing was fine. i.e sinks toilets etc.

I needed to lift floors upstairs and downstairs

The Mulk

The Mulk wrote: »

Is it microbore copper pipe?
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/help-adjusting-rad-pipes-and-microbore-to-15mm.479127/

I had a 70's house that i had to strip out within the last few years. Every joint leaked, with the smallest of disturbance, some bends were blocked
It was one zone for everything, so i upgraded it to 3 zones. I used qualpex everywhere and replaced all the rads.
The rest of the plumbing was fine. i.e sinks toilets etc.

I needed to lift floors upstairs and downstairs

Hey,


Yes, it's microbore. My friend who is a plumber looked at the video and the photos of the house and confirmed it was it. Said it's not a show stopper, but estimating 12-20k for a replumb and rewire as he presumes it's a fiasco in the hotpress and attic as well. Said it's very temperamental, and could leak at any stage, especially as it wasn't always well insulated either.



Thanks for all the replies.