Having a spot of plastering done and the guy has asked me to either bracket these pipes in or saw them off. They were behind a skirting board but were pushing the board out. They're copper and have been folded over at the ends.

If I saw through them, will I die / get wet / blow up the whole street in a gas explosion / be fine?

Opinions welcomed, thanks!

Overview;

Next to a size 9;

Folded ends;

We have no idea what's in them. Follow them to source. Though they look like rad pipes, they may not be. They may or may not be part of an active system.

I very much doubt there is anything in those pipes as those ends would not seal – old redundant pipes is my guess – can you not trace the other end of them?

Yup – that's kinda the problem – as you can see, following them back would involve knocking most of a wall down 🙁

I very much doubt there is anything in those pipes as those ends would not seal

that depends a lot on the pressure. IME folded copper is good for at least a couple of bar.

I had some of them set in concrete floors – old rad pipes – chopped them off at floor level.

P.S. – think the rad pipe theory might be right but the whole house is a bit jerry built and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the clamped ends were holding in a tidal wave of boiling water…

EDIT: yeh, my pipes are RAD dude

They look like old water/central heating pipes to me. They certainly aren't sealed to be gas-tight, so it's very unlikely that there'll be a leak. There's a vague chance that there'll be some residual water in there from an old heating system, so you might get slightly damp.

There's very little chance of getting a shock, as the usual method of transporting electricity around the home is in cables/wires rather than copper pipes, so unless you've had some real cowboy workmen in you'll be fine. 🙂

they do look like rad pipes, wear wellys/rubber gloves, turn water/electric off at mains and chop the end off, if it smells of gas PANIC if water leaks out its rad pipes or old tap pipes so just cut back and reseal the ends
i love old houses 😕

If it is still connected to the CH system, have a proper end cap ready when you chop them. If the pump's not running at the time, the system will be effectively sealed, so very little water will be able to escape. Just cut the pipe to where you want it, cap it and plaster over.

Yeah I would say rad pipes – two feeds n all that.

I seem to recall there being a kit you can buy that you screw on and it seals as it cuts. But I could be imagining that.

Rad pipes I bet, flow and return. You could try a freeze kit. easy to use and just recap it if needs be.

There's very little chance of getting a shock, as the usual method of transporting electricity around the home is in cables/wires rather than copper pipes, so unless you've had some real cowboy workmen in you'll be fine.

lots of older buildings (especially commercial ones) have 5amp electrickery wires housed in copper tubes as it was retro fitted.

they don't look like this mind.

Thanks for all that – very much appreciated. Will turn off water and 'leccy and be ready with a big pair of pliers in case something horrible comes out 😯

Actually, having had another look, I'm going to take off the baton running vertically up the wall, bend the pipes back on themselves and screw the baton back on.

Make sure you do your test cut near the folded over end and not at the wall end!!

There's very little chance of getting a shock, as the usual method of transporting electricity around the home is in cables/wires rather than copper pipes, so unless you've had some real cowboy workmen in you'll be fine.

We've got old elastictrickery wires running in metal pipes in the loft of our house. They are disconnected but I was a little surprised to find them, but it would make sense as the power comes into the house in what looks like pipes too!

But the pipes in the OP's pictures don't look like the same type, and I would guess they were old radiator pipes too.

ready with a big pair of pliers in case something horrible comes out

That's most likely to be a big ****-off spider that'll bite your arm off. Best not take the risk. Leave the pipe sealed…

I'd saw through them whilst smoking a cigar and using a blow torch as your source of light.

I'd saw through them whilst smoking a cigar and using a blow torch as your source of light.

Don't forget that this method is best augmented with the tried and tested 'barefoot in a puddle of water' stance…