New floor, now radiator too high

Jim Franklin

Despite a whole mess of rug and shims under the cast iron behemoth beforehand, after I installed the slate floor the radiator now sits too high. The supply pipe comes out of the base molding so it won't move up. Other than removing some foot material, is there an offset adapter I can put between the rad and supply (an el with compression end) to lose some height? I'm about 3/8" high. This is 1 1/2" pipe and I have about 8" I can slide before the vent hits the wall.



thanks,

jim

nicholas bonham-carter

radiator height adjustment

if you have access to the riser below,can you put in a longer nipple, or even unscrew it a bit? sometimes there is enough give in the pipes to lever the valve up that sort of short distance. you may have to adjust the elbows, or a pipe hanger underneath.--nbc

Steve_210

reply

45,s or street 45,s between the valve and the rad should work if you have 8 in.

Jim Franklin

SUggestions

The pipe comes horizontally through the base molding- extending the riser will only misalign it with the hole. And 45s would work but they'd raise it an inch at least, which would make the radiator somewhat precarious perched on wood blocks. I was hoping for an offset pipe like they have for rigid electrical conduit, to go from a conduit mounted against the wall into the junction box.



jim

Steve_210

2 street 45,s

if you change the nipple comming out of the wall and use 2 street 45,s with anew valve you should be close

nicholas bonham-carter

how did he do it??

if you can, when you have solved the problem, post some pix of the radiator height problem and its solution!!  many others will have this sort of problem, and your experiences will be invaluable on this site!!--thank you--nbc

Big_Al

Enlarge the hole

If you enlarge the hole in the baseboard, is there enough give in the pipe to pull it upward?  You could then use some kind of trim ring to cover the over-sized opening if it looks too bad.

Big_Al

45 Degree Street Elbows

I know that a pair of 45 degree street els was suggested and you said it would be too high . . . but not if they are rotated from vertical.  You could get the 3/8" vertical offset, if you can also live with a horizontal offset as well . . . the radiator getting closer to or further from the wall behind it . . . just a thought.  I've done it in two places when the replacement radiators I could get were different sized than the originals and had a higher connection.

Also, it sounds like your radiator connection is in a corner.  Can you turn the radiator 90 degrees, so it is along a different wall?  This might give you different piping options using the original supply . . . just another thought.

jacksonpollack

Think about cutting the feet shorter

I know you did not want to cut the feet off the radiator, but I just wanted to point out that it is easy to do with an abrasive cut-off wheel on an angle grinder or a sawzall cast iron blade. I have taken off one inch quickly and without and trouble.



I have had far more trouble trying to loosen pipe fittings when I have little room to move and little pipe to grab. You can get yourself into a much bigger problem quickly, like having to tear into the walls and floor to find the next pipe joint when you screw one up by accident or some corrosion that was the seal decides to let go when the pipe turns for the first time in 80 years.