Project Detail

Decorative and cast iron radiators

A lot of the older houses round here deserve better than a plain white panel radiator. These are jobs where the radiator is part of the room, so the pipework and the valves have to be finished to the same standard as the radiator itself.

Job: Decorative radiator installs
Typical time: Half a day to a day per room
Included: Radiator hung or floor mounted, new tails, valves, balancing

Ornate cast iron radiator with brass valves fitted in a period hallway

Cast iron in a period hallway

An ornate cast iron radiator on floor feet, sat against the original panelling. Cast iron is heavy and unforgiving, so the tails are set out before it goes in position, and the brass angled valves line up with the pipe centres rather than being pulled into place.

Column radiators

Tall column radiators suit rooms with high ceilings and not much wall, and a horizontal column fits neatly under a window or behind a sofa. Both are fed with copper tails coming straight up through the boards, so nothing is on show except the valve.

Designer towel rails

In bathrooms a brushed brass towel rail does the heating and the towels in one. Fixings go into solid ground, the valves match the rest of the room's brassware and the rail is balanced with the rest of the system so it actually gets hot.