A DIY fanatic has revealed how she saved herself up to £600 by installing a brand new radiator by herself.
Interior design expert Hannah Clark (@little_edwardian_semi) was sick of the “ugly” white radiator in her living room.
As part of her mission to inspire her followers to give DIY a go and be brave with colour, Hannah decided to replace it with a statement sunset orange option instead.
In a video, she said: “Come and plumb my new designer radiator from @bestheatinguk with me!
“This statement radiator is the Milano Aruba Horizontal radiator in sunset orange and the colour is absolutely glorious!”
Hannah went on to explain that this job could cost anywhere from £200 to £600 if a plumber was used, leaving many DIY fans feeling inspired to take on the challenge themselves.
So if you’re looking for a new makeover project for your home, you’ve come to the right place.
Explaining her DIY project in eight simple steps, Hannah said it’s important to drain down the whole central heating system before starting if you’re changing a radiator and valves on the ground floor.
She adds: “Drain from the lowest point and undo the bleed valves to help force the water out.
“If you’re doing this in the winter, wait until the system is cold.”
Next, she advises, you should detach the old radiator from the pipes using an adjustable spanner and take it off.
But she warns that this is a “two person job as they are heavy”.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”I was quoted £2000 for my kitchen but transformed it for £100 -people say it looks like a £20k kitchen” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6365164506112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Once the radiatior is removed, the next step is to remove the old brackets, fill any holes, and repaint.
Meanwhile, you will have to measure where the new brackets will go, drill holes, add wall plugs and screw the brackets into position.
Afterwards, Hannah says: “Wrap the valve tails with PTFE tape to prevent any leaks, then wind it into the radiator.
“[Then] take off the old thermostat valves (and old olives using an olive remover) and attach the smart new valves and new olives.
“Carefully lift the new radiator onto the brackets and connect it to the valves.
“[Finally] re-fill and pressurise the system (including 500ml of radiator inhibitor). Bleed all the radiators again to finish.”
Speaking after completing her colourful project, Hannah said: “This was such a fun DIY challenge for me in more ways than one.
“I wanted a radiator with a wow factor which made looking for one to replace the plain white one was exciting; I knew a colourful designer radiator would look perfect in the space and this colour complimented my room perfectly.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D105420%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]“Then, installing the radiator myself, which I’ve never done before, gave me such a sense of pride.
“It did take lots of research beforehand and took my time throughout the process – this would be my best advice to anyone wanting to take on the job themselves.”
And other interiors lovers are just as impressed by the project, with Hannah’s video racking up 391,000 views.
“Please come and change my radiators”, cried one person
A second wrote: “Hannah you’ve absolutely smashed it! This is so fab! The perfect colour choice too.”
A third added: “Go girl. Nice to learn from a smart have-a-go lady. Looks great.”
Meanwhile, a fourth joked: “My toxic trait is thinking I could do this but I’d end up f***ing up my whole central heating system.”