Cement around copper pipe

[reb78]

Doing some work today i have uncovered some copper central heating pipes that have a couple of small sections covered in either concrete or floor screed. Should i carefully remove it from contact with the copper pipe? It will get boxed in again so dont want it to corrode and be a hassle to replace.

 

[angellonewolf]

how hard is the cement / screed you might do more damage quick than leaving alone

in an ideal world yes they should have a plastic tube for it to run through

but in recient months ive changed the piping for the rad in the garage there was pipes cemented in the concreate but they had been in there before i bought the house so say built in the 1980s so thats 40 years in concrate and no leaks there

 

[123hotchef]

Just replaced the pipe.in the wife's flat been leaking in the screed for a few.months now.

 

[tom2207]

i had a pipe in my house disolve , it was in direct contact with concrete ,, when I replaced the section of pipe I put heat shrink on it and sleeved it in a chunk of hose pipe before concreting the holes up again ,,,

 

[reb78]

What you all type is the quandry I am in. It may be best left alone i think. I wont make what goes back entirely inaccessible although it will have to be sturdy as it will be supporting large flagstones upon which the front of a rayburn will sit and these pipes will run underneath!

 

[angellonewolf]

normaly the pipes are wraped in the concrete

 

[Farside]

Don't fart about, hoik it out and do it properly.
If it hasn't leaked yet, it will.

 

[Ross365]

Is it true that back in the 1960's, when Rhodesia would not allow copper ore be exported out of Zambia, a lot of copper pipe was produced in the UK that was "not of the finest quality", and that stuff is now (sometimes) giving problems. My house was built about that time and the pipes were not wrapped, though some have been done recently (and we have some Parquet flooring ).

 

[Farside]

Is it true that back in the 1960's, when Rhodesia would not allow copper ore be exported out of Zambia, a lot of copper pipe was produced in the UK that was "not of the finest quality", and that stuff is now (sometimes) giving problems. My house was built about that time and the pipes were not wrapped, though some have been done recently (and we have some Parquet flooring ).

It's certainly true about that time, and for the same reason, some aluminium wiring was used in houses. Not a happy thing, just look at the number of house fires caused by ordinary shonky wiring, never mind shonky ally stuff.
I've encountered quite a few local authority houses here that were built around that time and the internal plumbing was done in a kind of alkathene pipe instead of copper.

 

[awemawson]

Copper pipe of the era yours was installed would have far thicker walls than the stuff you get today, so more meat to stand abuse. But it definitely should be wrapped even so.

 

[reb78]

normaly the pipes are wraped in the concrete

a pic. They arent buried. This is the middle of the length so perhaps they stupidly did it to support it.

I think i will gently chip this away.

 

[angellonewolf]

is that cement tile tile grout ?

 

[reb78]

is that cement tile tile grout ?

Its not normal cement could be grout or a self levelling compound of some sort n

 

[angellonewolf]

id go low andf more dig at the very bottem once the pipes are free from that id say it will be easy to wiggle them and the stuff will fall off

 

[brightspark]

a pic. They arent buried. This is the middle of the length so perhaps they stupidly did it to support it.

I think i will gently chip this away.

View attachment 364649

christ theres nothing to worry about there. i thought u meant green and manky theres pipes under my concrete floors been there 60 years and still in good nick . the reason i know is had to dig some up and came across it and i see it all the time on jobs .

 

[Morrisman]

i had a pipe in my house disolve , it was in direct contact with concrete ,, when I replaced the section of pipe I put heat shrink on it and sleeved it in a chunk of hose pipe before concreting the holes up again ,,,

A lady friend of mine just had central heating upgraded in her place, downstairs floors are concrete and the builders just chiselled grooves in it around the edge to reach the new radiators, and buried the new copper tubes, back filled with cement.

 

[Seadog]

I watched a new conversion being done nearby. A former shop converted into two flats. The gas pipes, which were running across from tge side to the new meter cabinets, were buried in concrete and then a small piece of plastic tube was slipped on to make it look like the job had been done properly. Plain copper as well. Bloody cowboys.
Denso tape at the very least, please

 

[brightspark]

I watched a new conversion being done nearby. A former shop converted into two flats. The gas pipes, which were running across from tge side to the new meter cabinets, were buried in concrete and then a small piece of plastic tube was slipped on to make it look like the job had been done properly. Plain copper as well. Bloody cowboys.
Denso tape at the very least, please

all gas pipes buried in concrete are suposed to be plastic coated or wrapped in tape and have been for long enough , through the cavity wall they must go through a sleeve and be sealed either end to stop any escaping gas entering the cavity if im bonding the gas back to meter the earthwire goes through the sleeve as well in to the box. if not it goes up in to the box from the outside undrneath