wanting to remove two rads in my living room to put in new skirting and paper behind them. they have thermostat control my Q is when the tstat is turned down/off will i be able to close off the valve on the other side and remove it without the whole system dumping the water on the floor??

yes, but….
If your house suddenly gets cold overnight they will open up again 🙂

If it’s a thermostat that unclips then you often have a plastic clip you can fit in it’s place instead which won’t open up. However if you just do it when the house is warm there isn’t a problem apart maybe from small leaks a bucket will cope with

Close both valves down, carefully empty rad contents in to a bucket. Expect black water and cover your carpet. Get some cap ends to blank the pipes off whilst the rad is off the wall. All will be well. Oh, you may want to open the vent to aid draining the rad as it may ‘airlock’.

Good luck.

Closed valves can weep or drip but that’s what I do when decorating. Watch the black water that comes out, it stains stuff badly.

A kit like this helpful, crack the nut open so you can control the flow / stop the flow when the tray is full. Google radiator drain kit.

I replaced skirting yesterday and shut valves in, then loosened each end and placed heater flat on floor (on top of wood spacer) nipped up valves and the job was a good un. Just remember to loosen again before lifting again.

double post

Are you insane? Get a proper plumber in 😀

cheers all, it was the thought of the stat opening and dumping the entire system onto the floor that had me worried.

Vern0n, you see how I offered advice here? Slightly more realistic DIY’in in my opinion. And it’s all about opinions right?

the lock shields wont be a problem the trvs can be if the close completely to a O then your okay if they only go as far as a ‘snowflake’ they will leak sooooo whip the head oof and put a penny under the head and screw it back together the penny will apply enough pressure at ‘snowflake ‘ to fully close the system..

drain it off as per the pic above you ll get anything up to a washing up bowl full any more and one or more valves aint closed..

the initial water may be nice and clear at the end when you lifty it off any remianing water will be black like oil and harder tyo get off the carpet etc so be prepared lots of loo roll to ram in the open ends..turn the rad upside down so no chanc eof anything dripping out..

one tip when draining the rad open the air vent on the rad to release any vacumm..

ps i ve heard there are blokes called plumbers who can do work like this..

sooooo whip the head oof and put a penny under the head and screw it back together the penny will apply enough pressure at ‘snowflake ‘ to fully close the system

Adds to list of useful tips. Man knows job

ps i ve heard there are blokes called plumbers who can do work like this..

i can now as well 😆