Leaning cast iron radiators

stevenknaub

Hello, my son owns a circa 1900 two story frame home, with hot water heat.

The supply and returns in the basement are black pipe with some copper.

The branch piping running to and from the first floor radiators are black pipe.

The branch piping running to and from the second floor radiators appears to be 1/2”copper tubing.

Two radiators on the second floor are not sitting plumb on the floor.
Is it okay to simply shim the radiators plumb in one controlled motion, or should they be shimmed incrementally over a period of time?

hot_rod

It depends on if or how the tube or pipe connected to the radiator is fasten below. There may be enough slack for a 1/16 or 1/8" adjustment. How much do you need to raise one end?

stevenknaub

the radiator is about 40” tall, and needs about a 1” or so toward the wall movement at the top.

The total shim height will be about 5/8”

EdTheHeaterMan

That sounds like a easy fix that can be done all at once.

hot_rod

front to back should be easier than an end to end leveling. Are there unions on both ends? Something will need to allow some twisting if the connections

If you have soldered joints, you may not want to put too much torque on them?

RascalOrnery

Man that's some legit "uneven" heating 🙄🙄

kcopp

After shimming a wall stay may be a good plan to keep them in place. You can make them w/ threaded rod and some F&M plates . Or if you want a bit more flare you can buy them.

Wall Stays – CastIronRadiators.us

Jamie Hall

While you are at it — check the condition of the floor. I doubt the radiator was leaning when it was installed…

mattmia2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1888630#Comment_1888630

unless the flooring is soft and the feet of the radiator have sunk in to it, 5/8" over 10" or so is a lot of movement. some bigger problem is happening there.

if it is fed by copper it was reworked at some point. that type of copper pipe didn't exist 125 years ago.