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All homes have pipes of one sort or another, be it gas, central heating, and water supply; making pipes an integral part of the building. In the main, most of the pipework that is part of the system is concealed, both in the loft, and under the floorboards. However, there will inevitably be pipes that will be visible such as those leading to and from a wall mounted central heating boiler, and radiators. There will also be pipes leading from the mains supply up to the bathroom and loft, traveling up the walls and through the ceiling, while others travel down the walls from the bedrooms to the ground floor radiators.
Though necessary, these pipes are unsightly, and need to be hidden by being boxed in, but if not done correctly, things can look like an obvious cover up job, resulting in the area looking worse than what is being hidden in the first place. So some thought must be given to boxing in pipes in respect of being made in such a way that the pipes can be accessed in the event of a leak or burst without having to demolish the box in the process. |
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In addition to this, (where possible) the boxing-in should be a feature, rather than just a box. In this article, I will show how this can be done in a typical situation, so that the end product will look like part of the room, also helped to look more a a part of things by bringing the skirting board around it, and at the same time allowing accessibility to the pipes of without seeing any joints in the front panel. In this example, the box will consist of a fixed side panel made75x 18mm timber, with a front detachable panel made of 6mm plywood. Both the side and front panel will be fixed to two lengths of 50x25mm timber, which will run from floor to ceiling, and fixed to the wall. The base of the front panel will be hidden behind the skirting board. The first step is to place the first of the two lengths of 50x25mm timber uprights that will be fixed to the walls, between the floor and ceiling, or |
as in this example, from the top of the skirting to the ceiling, and close to the pipes, but not so much so that it would be obstructed by any pipe brackets. Mark its outside position, and draw a vertical line up the wall, and fix the timber to the wall to this line using 63mm No 10g screws (Fig2). When the vertical timber is in place, the side panel can be prepared, but the measurement should first be made from this wall to the front of the pipes so as to determine its width. If this measurement is close to a standard size of manufactured timber, (for example), if the distance to the front of the pipes is 60mm, then 75x25mm timber can be used for the side panel.
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Measure and cut the side panel so that it fits between the floor and ceiling, less 6mm, and place it vertically up to the skirting board. Raise and trap it up to the ceiling, and draw a short horizontal line, level from the top of the skirting on to it. Now the shape of the skirting will need to be scribed and cut out of the panel (Fig 3) so by allowing it to fit over the skirting and tight up to the wall and ceiling, as in Fig 4. While being held against the wall, place the spirit level onto the edge of the side panel, and check it for being vertical. If it is found to be running out of plumb, the panel will need to be scribed and cut until vertical. When the side panel is correct, it can be fixed to the vertical timber by using 35mm screws, countersunk into the timber, 300mm apart, (best done first on a bench or work surface, where each hole can be |
drilled out in-line).
The next step is to ensure that the side panel is at 90 degrees to the skirting, which can be done by placing a square onto the skirting, and adjusting the panel accordingly as in Fig 5. Mark its position onto the floor with a pencil line, remove the side panel, and position and fix down a short length of 50x25mm timber that is equal in length to the side panel width at the bottom, ensuring that its edge is to the pencil line as shown in Fig 6. Next measure the distance between the skirting on the adjacent wall and the timber that is fixed to the floor, and cut a second piece at this size, ensuring that this too is 90 degrees to the side panel as |
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shown in Fig 7, and fix it down in this position. |
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