5 storey townhouse system design

[bazm]

Hi all,

I have just bought a 5 storey, grade A listed townhouse to renovate. It is currently used as offices and has a large boiler which is quite old with thin radiators with no thermostats in each room. I will be upgrading the full system and the house will have a bathroom with shower on each level. I hope to use the existing pipework and just relocate new radiators to different positions in each room. I know very little about plumbing and will be getting a plumber to do the job but i would like to get advice and some understanding on the following,

1. Boiler replacement - 1 or 2 boilers? Any recommendations on what to get?
2. Any advice on which radiators to get?
3. Is electric underfloor heating a good idea for the bathrooms?
4. Anything else that will help my understanding!

The boiler is located in a mezzanine room just above the ground floor but I do not know if there is a water tank.


cheers

 

[Keefy]

The size of the rooms would be helpful in determining a rough guide to which type of system and layout to go with. Do you have details of the room sizes?

 

[lame plumber]

just get several quotes in and make sure you ask for similar specs to be able to compare pricing. Not sure what a grade A lisiting is, normally its grade 1 - 2 . So that will affect what you can do so youll have to work with the heritage officer in the council as a minimum or english heritage themselves, good luck there!! boiler wise, depends on size of property and what your looking to achieve.

 

[gasmanrob]

hard to say without room sizes double or single glazing number of outside walls, current gas meter size incoming water main size, pressure and flow rates. then building layout joist depths etc. electric underfloor heating is alright but can be costly to run. in short its probably best to get someone in to check these first and run through your needs and see what system will suite yoour needs where are you in the world as there may be one of us near by that would be able able to come and run through everything and provide you with a quote.

 

[TBServices]

Rip the lot out and have proper underfloor installed on every floor. You'll probably need a commercial grade boiler if the property is very large, or you can cascade two or more together to create same output (or even have individual boilers for different heating zones) I believe it's usually exterior works that are most limiting on listed buildings (no cables, plastic pipes outside etc)

I assume you've had clearance for change from commercial to residential use on the property?

Electric underfloor is rubbish for anything other than warming tiles IMO

 

[bazm]

Grade A listing is the Scottish equivalent to grade 1. Rough room dimensions are,

3 largest rooms 5 metres wide by 8 metres long.
4 rooms 5 metres wide by 6 metres long
6 rooms 3 metres wide by 5 metres long

Overall square footage is 6050 split pretty much evenly over the floors although the attic is slightly smaller.

 

[lame plumber]

before you go ripping up floors etc talk to heritage folks! interiors are very much part of listings!!!, sounds big so take proper advice from local plumbers as well as seeing whats said here. re elec uf, waste of time and fails!!!

 

[bazm]

Yes I have change of use granted. Would fitting a full underfloor system be a lot more expensive than replacing radiators? The property is in glasgow. I have the floorplans but unsure how to load them up?

 

[TBServices]

Yes it would, but if youre doing a full renovation, it's worth it.

 

[Keefy]

just get several quotes in and make sure you ask for similar specs to be able to compare pricing. Not sure what a grade A lisiting is, normally its grade 1 - 2 . So that will affect what you can do so youll have to work with the heritage officer in the council as a minimum or english heritage themselves, good luck there!! boiler wise, depends on size of property and what your looking to achieve.

I fitted new windows to a grade 2 listed house recently with my old man and they had to be single pane on the front but could have double on the rear. Graded buildings can be a pain.