How best to remove this radiator during wall and floor installation?

Eric Scheidler

Hello there!

I'm renovating my kitchen and need to remove a radiator in order to install walls behind it and a new floor underneath it. What's the best way to do this? In other words, which fittings should I loosen to pull this out?

This is a vapor system, and as you can see the valve knob is missing from this radiator. I plan to replace that when reinstalling. My first thought was to simply shut it off at the valve and then loosen that fitting.

I'm less sure which fitting to loosen on the cold side.

BTW, I'm just a homeowner, but a pretty handy one, and I've done a ton of work on this system (including massive repiping when we moved in and discovered no cold in the steam main, no joke; earlier this season I fixed the water feeder with help from this forum).





Here's a close-up of the cold side. It's oddly piped, with three 90º elbows. We've figured out that the radiator was once in a different spot, and moved here during some much earlier renovation (back in the day when they were still doing lath and plaster).



Thank you!

Jamie Hall

On the valve side -- the big nut between the valve and the radiator spud is a union clamp nut. You can loosen that and slip the union apart. On the outlet side, I think -- but am not sure -- that the big nut between the radiator and the elbow (it isn't a plain vanilla elbow, by the way) is also a union clamp, and you can do likewise there. If that isn't a union nut, the other one on the elbow will be.

Then just lift the radiator away (yeah right. They're heavy). When you go to reassemble it make sure that the union faces are really truly clean and that they line up perfectly. The union nut is just a light clamp (half a turn beyond hand tight) and a union will NOT take up a misalignment

Are you raising the floor? That may cause problems...

EBEBRATT-Ed

Put some never seize on the union faces and on the threads the nut screws on to. If the floor is raised you will likely have enough movement in the pipe for 1/4-3/8 raise. More than that could be an issue

Eric Scheidler

Thanks for the help, everyone. As far as raising the floor, the demolition of this room included stripping off about 1" or more of flooring — 5 different floors, the contractor told me. The radiator feet are standing on a couple of small remaining chunks of that floor.

The new floor will be 1.5" x 3/8" red oak, over a 3/8" underlayment. So if anything we're slightly lowering the floor. So I think we'll be fine on that score — though I'll be sure to check the pitch of piping down in the basement when I reinstall.

Thanks again for the help — I knew I could count on swift answers from this group once again!

— Eric