Indy Total Construction

For many people a simple boxing-in of their existing pipes to keep them out of sight is all that they require. This is a straightforward task and the materials are easily available.

You’ll need softwood battens, usually 50x25mm (2×1 in), with a cladding of hardboard or 3mm plywood for the simplest job. Before you go ahead. however. you should check whether any hot water passes through the pipes to be hidden.

If this is the case and you’re using hardboard for your cladding, you’ll have to condition it first Of it will warp as the heat in the pipework dries it out. This is riot a difficult technique: all youl have to do is brush water onto the reverse (mesh) side and leave it flat for 48 hours in the room where it is to be fixed. The softwood battens should also be left lying flat in the room for a few days so that they. too. w adjust to the moisture content of the air.

If the wood has been conditioned, the two battens should be screwed to the wall on each side of the pipes and the cladding attached to the battens.

Fixing battens edge-on to the wall is not always the perfect answer but by doing so you’ll be able to cover adequately a few pipes that project up to 25mm (1 in) or so from the wall, and the cladding will, in any case, hold the battens steady.

Remember that you should never use glue to fix the cladding to the battens because you might need access to the pipes for repairs or modification at some stage in the future. Pins punched in at 150mm (6in) centres, with their heads covered with filler, should prove adequate; this way the cladding can be prised off if necessary.

Boxing in pipes running in a corner will require two 25mm (1 in) battens which have been chamfered at the front to provide an angled edge. These are screwed to the two walls and the cladding, also with chamfered edges, is then fixed to the battens. For larger pipes you’ll need just a single larger batten fixed to one of the smaller ones; the cladding will be pinned to this and the smaller batten.

Another method is to use a spring clip attached to a piece of 19mm (s/ain) thick timber. Its edges should be planed and chamfered to allow it to fit neatly into the corner, and the spring clip is then fixed to the pipe itself.

If the pipes are in the alcove of a chimney breast you can box them in and then finish off the boxing so that it looks like an extension of the existing wall (see Ready Reference). The boxing for horizontal pipes down near the floor can often be made to look like wide and deep skirting.

A 25mm (1 in) batten should be fixed to the floor itself and one should also run above, but parallel to, the pipe. To the upper batten an additional 50x25mm (2×1 in) batten should be fixed; the cladding is then attached to this and the batten on the floor.

Hardwood floors are usually oak or maple. Softwood floors, usually made of pine, wear better when they are covered with

• Rugs or Carpets

• Linoleum

• Tile

Carpeting is fastened down professionally. A damaged section can be cut out and a new patch sewn, glued, tacked, taped or stapled in place.

Today linoleum is made of vinyl. It is thinner and softer but more durable than the original oil cloth linoleum. If water seeps under linoleum, the edges will come loose and begin to curl. Dry out the area and work cement under the loose edges. Pile on sandbags. Some excess cement will ooze out. Clean it up before it dries.

To lay a patch, cut the new piece the exact size of the hole. Match the pattern and cut the piece with a slight bevel. Remove all of the old cement or the patch will bulge. Set in the new piece and hold it down with sandbags.

Vinyl and asphalt are the materials most often used for floor ’tiles. Vinyl is soft and pliable. Asphalt tile is thicker, harder, and tends to chip. Remove a damaged tile by heating it with a hot pressing iron over a cloth. Scrape up all the old cement while it is warm and soft.

You may have to trim the new tile. Use a knife and straightedge to trim vinyl. Asphalt tile should be placed in a vise between two wood blocks and shaved down with a rasp.

A new tile may have to be trimmed to fit. Trim vinyl tiles with a knife and straightedge. trim asphalt tiles place them in a vice between wood blocks and file them down with a rasp.