- Dismantling old pipes
- Pipe installation
- Checking work results
This article will discuss how to replace pipes in the bathroom with your own hands and such stages as disassembling old pipes and installing new ones, as well as checking the results obtained. If you plan to replace old pipes and install polypropylene pipes in the bathroom, toilet bolts also affect because of this replacement, so, do it at the same time, then the following tools and materials will be required to complete the work:
- Pipes in the bathroom
- Bulgarian (disc for cutting metal);
- Electric soldering iron and the necessary attachments for it;
- Electric drill, better – impact type;
- The adjustable wrench of the required size;
- Pipes, the length of which is calculated in advance, taking into account the losses during cutting;
- Sufficient fittings and fasteners;
- Shut-off valves for each unit;
- Special cutter for precise and even cutting;
- Technical petroleum jelly and tape, with the help of which the pipes will be connected to consumers.
Changing pipes in the bathroom and at the same time in the toilet of a standard apartment will require the following set:
- Preparation for work
- Pipes with a total length of 20-30 m;
- End fittings (15-20 pieces);
- Corner fittings (15-20 pieces);
- Wall mountings in the appropriate quantity.
- Important: sometimes in order to change the pipes in the bathroom, bypass pipes may also be required.
- Hiding pipes
When advising how to replace pipes in a bathroom or other rooms, it is quite often recommended to hide pipes behind tiles using grooves in the walls for them. Taking into account the dimensions of standard Soviet apartments, the following methods of hiding pipes may be more preferable:
- Under the built-in sink in the kitchen;
- Under the bathtub in the bathroom;
The piping in the bathroom to the washbasin can be hidden under the earthenware stand along with the sewer pipes;
The pipes in the toilet can be hidden behind the toilet, as well as the cold water supply;
To hide the supplies to the water heating tank and the washing machine, you can mount special structures from a profile for drywall, and then sheathe them with plastic panels. Piping in the bathroom using this approach allows for easier access to the installed pipes if necessary, without requiring dismantling and re-tiling due to pipe breakage in just one place.
Important: it makes sense to perform strobing only at the point of supply to the bath mixer, thus decorating the place of its exit from the wall.
Dismantling old pipes
Before you change the pipes in the bathroom, you should dismantle the old pipes, which can be done quite quickly using modern tools, the main of which is the grinder.
The first step is to open the closed sections of the sewage system and the pipeline, for which, along with the grinder, you may need a tool such as a perforator. In the absence of the necessary tools, you can use the old proven method – dismantling with a hammer and chisel, in which it is recommended to wear special gloves.
Important: when performing both dismantling and installation of pipes in the bathroom and working with a grinder, you should use face protection, such as a respirator or mask and goggles, to avoid dust getting into the eyes and respiratory tract
Dismantling old pipes includes the following steps:
The first step is to dismantle the inputs, for which they cut off the water in the riser of the apartment, since it may also be necessary to replace the entrance shut-off valves;
After shutting off the water, the old inlet taps are screwed or cut off with a grinder from the inlet pipe the old pipes, after which the threads are cut and new shut-off taps are screwed on;
The screwed inlet taps are closed, after which you can turn on the water in the riser so as not to inconvenience the neighbors;
Water is drained from old pipes in all possible places so that it does not interfere with the dismantling process. All water consumers, such as a washing machine, mixers, and others, are disconnected from the pipes;
All sewerage consumers are disconnected in the same way;
Previously, installing pipes in the bathroom involved attaching them to the walls with dowels using a pistol. Such dowels are quite difficult to remove from concrete, so you should remove their heads with the help of a grinder so that nothing sticks out of the walls and does not interfere with the subsequent laying of tiles;
If it is necessary to gouge, the grinder disc is replaced with a disc for stone, brick, and concrete, changing it temporarily back to a disc for metal if reinforcement is found in the wall.
Important: in the case of laying old pipes at a high height from the floor, the pipes in the bathroom should be transferred to a lower height, which may require expanding or punching new holes in the walls.
The lower setting of the pipes allows you to hide them without performing gating.
Pipe installation
After the installation and strobing are completed, before laying the pipes in the bathroom, you should rest and think again – whether everything has been taken into account and whether the purchase of additional materials will be required.
Replacing pipes
Further, the following work is performed:
The installation of pipes of all types begins with the installation of a coarse filter, located after the meter and the shut-off valve;
The same is done with the introduction of hot water. If there are separate risers in the bathroom and in the kitchen, the filter is installed 4 times;
The meters should be installed according to the arrows indicating the direction of water movement, and the case can be installed as you like.
Useful: it is advisable to install the meters insufficiently illuminated places to facilitate the further reading of the readings.
Brazing pipes
Let us consider in more detail how to conduct pipes in the bathroom by soldering fragments of polypropylene pipes with a soldering iron and then connecting them so that the joints can be easily accessed for assembly using keys or a soldering iron:
The stores sell accessories such as tees, elbows, 45 or 90Â corners, couplings connecting two fragments, couplings that go to metal, elbows, etc., which are assembled according to a prepared drawing;
Before assembly, using a marker, markers are applied, taking into account the three-dimensionality of the turns, since the parts should be connected at the correct angles;
The soldering iron simultaneously heats the mounted polypropylene pipe and one of the fittings for a time depending on the diameter of this pipe.
Useful: the warm-up time values depending on the pipe diameters are usually indicated in the instructions for the soldering iron itself.
When repairing pipes in the bathroom, you should not overheat the plastic when welding polypropylene pipes – this can seal the pipe tightly, after which it is rather difficult to find the exact place of the marriage.
- Wait until the soldering cools down and make sure everything is done correctly;
- Removing pipes from the wall to the mixer
- After joining the fragments, wait 15 seconds for the plastic to cool and harden;
Taking into account the flow of hot water through the pipes, their fastening to the walls should not be rigid; a sliding fastening should be used, for which standard plastic clips can be used. They are attached to the walls using plastic dowels with a screw, this can be done even after laying the tiles, or you can fix the pipes immediately, carefully unfastening them while laying the tiles. After the tile glue has hardened, the tile is drilled and the clip is returned to its place;
Important: when installing pipes, you should take into account the thickness of the tile layer laid in the future.
For each of the faucets and plumbing fixtures, as well as a washing machine, a toilet cistern, a shower cabin, etc., it is imperative to install a ball valve, which is quite cheap and helps out if repairs are necessary.
Such a tap allows you to turn off the water not in the entire apartment, but only at the place of repair for the duration of the repair.
Checking work results
How to replace pipes in the bathroom
Talking about how to change pipes in the bathroom, you should also talk about how to check the correctness and reliability of the replacement performed to make sure there are no leaks:
First of all, they turn on cold water and wait 10-15 minutes;
Check the presence of drops of moisture at the points of soldering and threaded connections, as well as along the entire length of the flexible tubes;
If there is a leak, it is eliminated; Similarly, the inspection of the installation and soldering points is repeated already for hot water pipes; Separately, for each of the devices, the sewer pipes are checked – 2 buckets of water are poured into each of the plumbing fixtures connected to the sewerage system and leaks are searched for and eliminated. This completes the replacement of pipes in the bathroom, we hope that this article will help you to independently replace pipes in the apartment quickly, efficiently, and reliably, after which the installed pipes will serve faithfully for many years.
