1920's American Radiators, cast iron, 5-tube, various # sections, available if you're quick

TmKady

Please help me find a new home for the set of cast iron American Radiators from my childhood home: (1) one each of 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10 sections, and one that's not as perfect (I tried to cut out plug, maybe could be saved if you have skills) that has 14 sections. Also one wall hung, single tube about 24" high x 18" wide. In White Plains, NY, just north of NYC.
Must pick up soon (today is 10/15/2016) and promise to reuse, not scrap them. email: green.energydr@gmail.com thank you!

STEVEusaPA

How about some pictures.

Steamhead

Those are probably American Corto rads. Why are you taking them out?

Paul S_3

free?.....probably forced air install or 1/2 pex series baseboard loop with 100 ft of fin tube in series ....joking....its just what i find alot in this area

Fred

Steamhead said:

Those are probably American Corto rads. Why are you taking them out?

Paul S said:

free?.....probably forced air install or 1/2 pex series baseboard loop with 100 ft of fin tube in series ....joking....its just what i find alot in this area

This is from his other post:
Last note: my Mom decided she wanted baseboard and new slimmer radiators in a few spots, I had little success getting old ones ready to convert to two pipe, but someone with drill and tap metalworking skills certainly could. I really don't want these to be scrapped, so if you can use them, please email me right away! They will need to leave very soon. Thank you.

TmKady

TmKady

@Steamhead: wished you lived closer to NY, would have been nice to keep this system steam. At Paul S.: I have an 80+ yr old lady here who was forgetting to get oil deliveries, constantly worried about boiler, but did not want to do anything until it crapped out in July, so now it's an emergency. Very hard to find decent contractors in Westchester willing to drop everything and solve Mom's avoidable emergency. Old steam piping had been added on to and bastardized in past - only one guy would even propose steam, $22K for gas conversion (meter upgrade) and 155 MMBtu steam boiler, $15K to redo piping and "I'm going to destroy all the plaster walls, so you'll have to clear out the house and fix them after." That was not acceptable to Mom/client.
I have CM'd over $10MM in steam boiler installations elsewhere and ran a campus with high/med/low pressure steam centralized steam system, made it decentralized to be all local LP steam - I am not opposed to steam, just not hands on skilled with cast iron and out of time to fix an unplanned for project with cold coming.
New radiators are Ecostyle (Polish mfg - nice units but painted steel, all wall hung, simple look, water flows through front and back panel, convection fins on interior, use Caleffi valves to bypass on bottom) and yes, some fin tube. Navien NHB condensing modulating unit, indirect DHW, eliminated $2K chimney fix up with direct vent, no oil deliveries, thing is nearly silent running full blast. Added two zones with switch to HW, so no loop is more than 60 ft equivalent. I will do forced hot air over my dead body. Sorry you figured I'm a dope, just a difficult client and in a tight timetable for a free project.

ChrisJ

Since when is a heating system an emergency repair in July?
I'm a bit confused by that one.

Seems like you'd have several months to repair it and get things in order?

BobC

He is dealing with an older client so I get the feeling he does not have carte blanche when it comes to deciding exactly what will be done. I can tell you dealing with someone like that is not easy.

Bob

TmKady

@ Chrisj: Bob has called it except even worse, client is my elderly mother who thinks everything costs what it did in the depression. Also, Westchester County is just north of NYC and most of the good plumbers are booked months in advance plus any gas service issues with utility take months to address. In this case, ConEd has decided that service is adequate but piping is old so they want to move meter outside and dig up the lawn to do new plastic - fine, all good, but now after 2+ months of process they tell us 3-4 months to build, so we will dig up lawn in January or Feb - a good time for landscaping repair (not!) and I have to negotiate something with the plumber to not hold so much money for that long because it sure isn't his fault!
Most radiators still available BTW.

TmKady

Forgot to add that obviously we will be cutting over to new piping in JANUARY or FEBRUARY, so god help us if the crew decides to go home before it's complete and I'll have to have temp heat ready because that happens ALL THE TIME. So, "emergency" is any job not started between April and May in that market.

BobC

@TmKady I know exactly what you mean about price memory.

A few days ago I was taking to buddy that works a few days a week at a local market for beer money. He was putting up price signs on the produce when I reminded him we used to buy spuds off the horse drawn fruit guys wagon for 4 cents a pound when we were kids.

Bob

Jamie Hall

BobC said:

He is dealing with an older client so I get the feeling he does not have carte blanche when it comes to deciding exactly what will be done. I can tell you dealing with someone like that is not easy.

Bob

You should try my mother in law (98). And why I am gradually turning over this place to my daughter!

But in a situation like that, you do what you have to do...