Cold and hot water risers. Replacing water supply risers in an apartment - what will you have to face? Reasons for replacing risers

Water supply risers are reviewed, the reasons why it will be necessary to replace the risers are described, installation tips are given, and recommendations are given for the selection of materials for new risers.

Each apartment has vertical pipelines - water risers, which are designed and installed according to some basic principles. Water supply risers are installed mainly in bathrooms at a distance of 3-5 cm from the wall; one riser should be installed on a group of water fittings and a shut-off valve should be placed at the lower base of the riser. (See also: )

Previously, in old apartments and houses, cast iron risers and pipes were installed, or those made of galvanized steel. These risers are not practical and their main enemy is corrosion. Under the influence of organic substances, such pipes may leak after some time. Rust and dirt also clog the inner walls of pipes, which causes a narrowing of the passage channel and a decrease in water flow. After long-term use, it is possible that the hot or cold water riser may fail; in this case, they must be partially or completely replaced. It is worth noting that the hot water supply riser becomes clogged and rusts much faster than the cold riser.

Important! The risers must be equipped with a tap that can completely shut off or increase the water supply. This tap must be installed and replaced along with the replacement of the riser and pipes.

When do you need to change water supply risers?

The need to replace the riser arises in two cases:

2) In case of complete renovation of the apartment. In this case, replacing the cold and hot water riser is a necessity. Often in apartments, risers are laid and hidden from view with tiles, and subsequent access to the riser is limited. Also, a trend in new modern designs requires moving the riser to free up additional square meters. If a person dreams of a new jacuzzi or other auxiliary equipment in the bathroom, then moving the riser cannot be avoided.

Important! If you replace a pipe riser, you must replace it at least from the ceiling to the floor. Under no circumstances should you renew a short section of pipe that has become rusty.

When deciding to change the water supply risers, it is necessary to coordinate the repair with the Housing Office, as well as completely turn off the water through the riser. And after finishing the work, all welds and joints on the risers must be treated with a primer and wrapped in thermal insulation.

Why is thermal insulation needed?

Thermal insulation is necessary in cases where condensation forms on water supply pipes. To get rid of condensation and minimize heat loss from the pipes, the risers are wrapped in thermal insulating polyethylene foam. Such materials are produced both in the post-Soviet space and abroad. The greatest demand is for foreign materials produced in Germany, which are distinguished by their quality, reliability and reasonable price.

Features of replacing risers

Complete replacement of water supply risers should be carried out using foreign-made polypropylene pipes, which have many advantages compared to post-Soviet pipe manufacturers.

If you live in a relatively recently built apartment building (up to ten years), then, as a rule, there is no need to replace water supply risers, since in many new houses they began to install pipes made of modern materials and, with proper operation, they last for many years. If you decide to repair the riser in one apartment, then you should know a few rules.

Cost of replacing risers

Fast and high-quality replacement of water supply risers; the price for this part of the repair is not small and depends on many factors (region, type of riser, qualifications of the technician, and so on). For example, in the capital of Russia, in order to disconnect the entire riser of an apartment building from the water supply, you need to pay approximately 500 rubles for one hour of disconnection. Thus, before starting work, you need to have everything you need for repairs so as not to delay it for several hours. Threaded and steel connections are necessary for the installation of galvanized steel pipes; as practice shows, it is more practical to produce them by welding.

Important! It is worth remembering that when welding a galvanized pipe with conventional electrodes or simply welding wire, it is necessary to remove the galvanized layer from the place where the welding will be performed and the pipes must be overlapped with each other.

Since these layers are subject to evaporation and after welding is completed, some places remain for moisture to penetrate. After welding is completed, it is imperative to treat the joints with an anti-corrosion primer. The same thing is worth remembering when working with threaded joints, because they also tend to deteriorate under mechanical stress and the zinc layer is destroyed just as easily.

Replacing the sewer riser

If it is necessary to change the sewer riser, then before starting work it is worth warning all residents of the house about the disconnection of the riser and choosing a convenient time for the majority of residents, so that as few people as possible need to use it. Usually this time is between 10 and 15 o'clock in the afternoon because many residents are at work. Typically, replacing water supply and sewer risers takes about half an hour, but you shouldn’t rush too much so as not to miss important details.

Selection of material for the riser

In cases where the bathrooms of your home have pipes made of cast iron, professionals recommend replacing them with more practical pipes - made of polypropylene material. Such pipes are specially created to once and for all forget about rotten and worn out risers. Such pipes are durable even at a temperature of 95 degrees and are very resistant to the harmful effects of various substances, so the service life of polypropylene water supply risers will be impressive. To connect such pipes, butt adapters are produced in production and sold in specialized stores, which have all the necessary shapes. But if you do not want to change cast iron pipes, then various butt adapters are also sold for them.

Installation of water supply risers is necessary primarily in multi-storey buildings. This name is given to any vertical pipelines. Horizontal distribution pipes approach them, and lateral waste diverges from them. They supply water under high pressure so that it can rise to the highest floors of the building.

That is why replacing water supply risers is a complex plumbing operation that is carried out in compliance with certain rules and requirements. Violation of these rules leads to the fact that repairs to the water supply system will have to be done again after 1-2 years of operation.

In an apartment building, risers are installed separately for hot and cold water supply. However, this has to be done only in cases where hot water is supplied centrally, from a common boiler room. If water heating devices are located directly in the apartment, one for cold water is enough. A vertical pipe is laid along the surface of a finished plastered wall or in a groove inside it. Its position must be strictly vertical, which is constantly checked during installation using a plumb line. Assembly is carried out from the bottom up, starting from the lower floor or, if there is one, the basement. The diameter must be the same throughout the entire height of the system.

The installation of a water riser is carried out in a multi-storey residential building for a group of apartments located one above the other. Their number depends on the number of apartments located on one floor. On each floor of the apartment, horizontal consumer outlets are connected to the riser. As a rule, the sewer riser, which has the largest diameter, is placed in the corner of the bathroom, and water pipes of smaller diameter are placed next to it. If the riser is open, the distance from its surface to the wall must be at least 20 mm.

The centralized hot water supply system is a more complex system, since it has the additional need to avoid heat loss as much as possible when supplied over long distances. To do this, the risers of one vertical section in the upper part are connected to each other. All of them, except one, are connected to the supply main system, and one, called the drain, is connected to the circulation system. To be able to maintain the same diameter of the riser pipes of a single-pipe hot water supply system, it is customary to loop them.

The drain riser, as well as the supply riser, is connected to systems of horizontal pipelines designed for dispensing hot water. In addition, a diaphragm is installed on the drain riser for uniform water circulation. With such a system, in houses up to 5 floors high, inclusive, the diameter of the hot water riser pipes is set to 25 mm, and in houses above 5 floors, 32 mm is already provided. At the same time, galvanized steel pipes were usually installed to supply hot water.

Reasons for replacing water supply risers

The need to replace the water supply riser may arise in two cases: when the pipe becomes unusable or if the riser needs to be moved to another location in the apartment. If in the first case you can limit yourself to the process of replacing the pipe within one apartment, then in the second it is necessary to come to an agreement with all the neighbors through whose apartments the riser pipe passes. In the first case, this is also highly desirable, because if the riser pipe has become corroded, it is worth replacing it entirely, since a break in one apartment leaves all neighbors without water.

In old-style residential buildings, all risers are located outside, while in modern ones, all of them, except for hot water supply risers, are laid in wall niches. Old cast iron or steel pipes not only undergo corrosion under the influence of organic substances, leading to the formation of numerous leaks. The inside of the pipes becomes overgrown with mineral deposits, so the internal diameter begins to decrease. And this leads to the fact that in order to pump the same volume of water, it is necessary to increase the pressure, increasing the load on the already dilapidated pipe.

Most often, old metal pipes corrode where they pass through interfloor ceilings. The service life of such pipes is limited to 25 years, and after 40 years they definitely reach an emergency condition. It is worth remembering that hot water supply pipes deteriorate earlier than others because they are exposed to temperature changes. This leads to condensation on their surface, accelerating the corrosion process. If the apartment undergoes renovation, during which new plumbing equipment is installed in the bathroom, moving the riser is usually inevitable.

The process of replacing and installing a new riser

First of all, you need to decide on the material from which the new riser will be made. It can be either cast iron or galvanized steel, or plastic pipe. The main condition is that the diameter of the new pipe is equal to or greater than the diameter of the previous one. It is advisable to take new pipes made of plastic, made of polypropylene. They can be used for both cold and hot water supply, since the material has sufficient heat resistance. In addition, they have a lower specific weight, are easier to install, and their service life reaches 50 years.

You need to start replacing the riser from the valve, which can block the movement of water in the pipe. When it has also become unusable, it is advisable to start from the previous one. If a new polypropylene pipe needs to be connected to one of a similar material, it is done using a solder coupling, which must be permanent. Soldering plastic is a simple procedure that you can do yourself. If you have to connect a metal pipe to a plastic one, then a transition coupling with an internal thread is used. To do this, you will have to cut 5 - 6 turns of external thread at the end of the metal pipe.

After this, you can assemble the riser by inserting a shut-off valve and a tee on each floor at the junction with the horizontal internal wiring. To install a heated towel rail, you need to additionally solder two more tees. In the case when only part of the riser within the same apartment is changed, it is prohibited to combine different materials for one pipe. It is necessary to insert a new piece into a steel or cast iron riser to replace the one that has become unusable, made of the same material. To do this you will have to use electric welding and hire a specialist.

For reliability, it is better to make connections of metal pipes welded, since threaded ones can begin to leak over time. When welding galvanized steel, it is necessary to remove the zinc layer at the joint and weld into the socket. After replacing or moving a hot water supply riser, it should be covered with thermal insulation, which will prevent the formation of condensation on its surface. You don't have to do this with cold ones. Next, you can sheathe the riser with a plasterboard casing or cover it with tiles.

The use of modern materials and compliance with all installation rules will allow you to forget about repairing the water supply riser for many years.

Repairs in an apartment, especially in old houses, often begin with the replacement of such parts of plumbing communications as: heating pipes, sewer risers. The homeowner will not ignore the water supply risers. After all, you want everything in your apartment to be sparkling clean after renovation, but rusty old pipes can ruin the whole appearance. However, replacing water supply risers in an apartment is not such a simple matter. And most of the problems in carrying out this work are far from technical.

Who should carry out this work?

To answer this question, one should turn to the legislation of the Russian Federation and, first of all, to the Housing Code, which regulates all issues related to living in apartment buildings and their renovation. So, according to Article 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, all work on replacing and repairing water supply risers in any apartment must be carried out by the management company to which the residential building is assigned and which receives the same payments transferred monthly for utility bills. By the way, in the payment document there is a column called “Maintenance and routine repairs.” This is exactly what the replacement of water supply risers in apartments is suitable for (even despite the fact that the housing is registered as a property).

And if the issue of replacing the water supply inside the apartment is decided (as they say, “to the valve”), then all the costs are borne by the homeowner. And this aspect is very important in such controversial issues as, for example, flooding of neighbors. If the water supply breaks, the owner is to blame, and if the flood occurred due to the destruction of the riser, then the management company is to blame. In the latter case, she is obliged to compensate for all damage to the victims.

Note! When the management company refuses to change the risers, citing the fact that “there is no money,” and invites residents to decide the issue of financing themselves, you should not fall for this trick. You need to file a complaint with the housing inspector and under no circumstances seek money on your own.

Moreover, if the building has apartments with persistent defaulters, then the management company has no right to rely on this and abandon its responsibilities. You can even force her to carry out the required work through the courts.

It is worth remembering that all of the above information applies specifically to apartment buildings. In a private house, only the owner should change the risers.

When do you need to change risers?

Risers can be replaced in two cases.

1. Planned replacement, which must be carried out as soon as the service life of the plumbing equipment has expired. The guarantee of trouble-free service of a metal water pipeline is 25 years, and after 40 years of use, the pipes are recognized as emergency.
2. Unscheduled emergency replacement, which is carried out if an emergency (leak) occurs in the house regarding water supply risers.

Even if the pipes look intact, strong, and reliable, after their service life has expired, you should not use them and rely on their apparent reliability. A water pipeline that is in this condition can easily leak and destroy all repairs for both neighbors and apartment owners. , You can read in our article.

It is also recommended to change the risers at a time when a major renovation of the apartment is underway. The fact is that in this case, water conduits are often hidden behind decorative panels or in walls, and this greatly complicates access to them. Therefore, it is better to be sure that the risers are in excellent condition.

Where does work begin?

Work to replace water supply risers does not begin with the purchase of new pipes, but with coordination of the work with the management company and other residents. The first step is to contact the housing and communal services department and submit an official application there demanding that the water pipelines be replaced. In this case, the document must indicate valid and not far-fetched reasons (for example, an emergency condition, wear and tear of equipment). The application should also be supported by evidence - for example, photographs or the results of an officially conducted examination. The application must be submitted in two copies, one of which will remain in the applicant’s hands and (necessarily!) with a note that it has been accepted. If a replacement is truly necessary, the management company must respond quickly. If anything, the applicant will receive a document explaining all the reasons for refusing to carry out the work.

Step 1. In the basement, the water supply to both hot and cold water supplies is shut off. The pipe water comes down from the pipes. This is done by the employees of the management company.

Step 2. The space for work is being prepared - if necessary, the toilet is removed, all kinds of bedside tables are moved away, decorative walls are dismantled. After this, the old pipes are dismantled - they are cut with a grinder approximately 20-30 cm from the level of the ceiling and floor.

Step 3. Now the neighbors below and above the floor are also cutting off the riser pipes - this will make it possible to pull the pipe sections through the ceilings.

Step 4. The cut edges of the pipes are cleaned of burrs.

Step 5. At the junction of old pipes with new ones, special coupling connectors and clips are put on to hold them. All elastic bands are tightly fixed at the desired level.

Advice! A gas wrench will help tighten the connectors.

Step 6. A pipe of the required length (enough to connect the riser into a single system again) is lowered through a hole in the floor to the downstairs neighbors.

Step 7 Using a special nozzle and a heater, the polymer pipe and connector are heated and connected at the junction. The pipes of the neighbors on the higher floor are also connected.

Step 8 Two pipes coming from the neighbors below and above are connected in the owner’s apartment using the same heater.

Step 9 Marks are made on the pipe in the place where it is necessary to make a branch to supply water to the bathroom or kitchen. The pipe is cut at this point.

Step 10 The branch is also connected to the riser. The work has been completed. Before the riser is put into operation, the tightness of the connections should be checked.

Video - Replacing water supply pipes in an apartment

It is worth remembering that replacing risers is a very responsible undertaking, and all work must be carried out carefully and carefully. It is also undesirable to move the risers to another location or change their shape without permission, that is, without the permission of the management company. After completing the work, you should make sure that there is still access to the pipes, despite the decorative decoration of the room - you can make beautiful doors or special hatches. But you cannot cover the water pipes with tiles - in the event of an accident it will come out sideways.

Major renovation of an apartment is another reason to replace the water supply riser

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In an apartment building and private building, it has long been common practice for everyone to be equipped with water supply and sewer risers. Already from them there are branching pipes throughout the apartment, which, like vessels in a living organism, supply it with everything necessary and remove the results of vital activity. And if you treat the problems of boners in a businesslike manner, as if they were an organism, then there will be no problems in the house. Given the degree of wear and tear of materials, it is periodically necessary to replace the risers in the apartment.

It is a vertical pipeline passing through all floors in an apartment building. It is necessary for the collection and disposal of waste and used water inside the building. Most often, the material for the sewer riser is cast iron or galvanized steel. In houses whose service life is more than 25 - 30 years, replacing the sewer riser is a prerequisite. Cast iron, like other materials, wears out and rusts over time. And its repair is no longer practical. And the plastic riser has increased fragility. In case of problems, the best solution is to replace the structure.

It is usually installed in the bathroom next to the sewer. The distance between the wall and the riser must be at least three centimeters; there is a system of pipes for water intake and valves.

The water riser, which provides the delivery of cold and hot water in the house, can also be made of galvanized steel and cast iron. Due to corrosion, it is not very practical. In addition to the fact that traces of destruction could appear on the surface, you cannot turn a blind eye to this, since this situation can lead to a leak. In addition, the water passage channel narrows due to dirt and rust getting inside. And here a major overhaul is inevitable.

A problem in the cold water supply can lead to interruptions in drinking water throughout the house. And the lack of hot water supply (DHW) will negatively affect hygiene. Unfortunately, hot water risers deteriorate and rust much earlier than cold water. Under all these conditions, urgent replacement of water supply risers is necessary.

Reasons for replacing risers

• emergency condition;
• when it is impossible to repair the sewer riser;
• dissatisfaction with the quality of the material;
• expiration of use;
• renovation and remodeling of the bathroom;
• decreased quality of cold water;
• risk of leaks in hot water supply;
• reduction in water supply capacity.

For those who like redevelopment, there are some problems with moving the sewer riser in an apartment building. Here, it is advisable to coordinate even the replacement with your neighbors.

It would be advisable to carry out renovations on all floors. And if replacing the sewer riser (cast iron with metal plastic or propylene) is in one apartment, then only residents of the top floor can do this without any problems.

In addition, they should carry out the replacement without disrupting the operation of the ventilation pipe water seals. So that in all apartments in the house there is no harmful ventilation. When it is necessary to replace water supply risers, there are subtleties of this action.

It is impossible to change only the problematic fragment of the cold water pipe; in this case, the section from the floor to the ceiling at least within one apartment must be replaced.

To extend the service life of the water supply system, if you need to replace water supply risers, you can use modifications to the hot water pipes when installing a cold water riser. You should not add an insert from another to a pipe made of one material, especially if this is planned to be done before the valves. A combined pipe for both cold and hot water may fail during use. And lead to an emergency. It’s better to immediately change the riser in the bathroom using the same polypropylene pipes.

• Metal-plastic. Good heat dissipation, with the ability to maintain temperature and pressure. As a disadvantage of such pipes, when using cold water, they fog up a lot and require periodic tightening of the collets (due to the narrowing at the junction of fittings and valves), so you should not rush to close the pipes, as they need constant maintenance.
• Cross-linked polyethylene. It is wiser to use for hot water. You can hide it in the wall.
• Polyvinyl chloride. PVC pipes are ideal, if the sewer riser needs to be replaced. Long service life without corrosion. Light weight, easy to install. Connection reliability (tightness).
• Polypropylene. These pipes have the same cross-section in all elements and installation of valves is not a problem; they are well held together by welding. Such pipes are not subject to rotting and corrosion. It is better to choose polypropylene pipes made in European countries rather than Chinese ones.

Replacing all the risers in the house at once is a smart decision. If the time has come to do a major renovation, then changing the riser in the bathroom only for cold water, and leaving the hot water for later, means extending the repair time for an indefinitely long period.

1. Therefore, it is better to do everything in one period. First you need to start dismantling the unusable cast iron riser.
2. The next stage will be the installation of new pipes for cold and hot water. Sewage system connection.
3. Connecting wiring and checking operation.

An important point when replacing a sewer riser is to ask neighbors so that no one in the house temporarily uses the sewer. And he didn’t open the water valves.

Replacing a sewer riser

First of all, this issue should be discussed with the management organization. Professional plumbers will do this job faster and better. But if you decide to do everything yourself, you need to close the door to doubt and start taking action.

• Dismantling.
• Inserting a new riser.

When dismantling, it is worth taking into account the weight of the cast iron pipe, so that when breaking through the ceilings, it does not fall to the floor below, under the weight of its own weight. When installing a new riser pipe, you should start by inserting the lower end of the new riser pipe into the upper end of the downstairs pipe. A rubber gasket must be used in the connection. Do the same by inserting the upper end of the new pipe into the pipe of the next floor.

Replacing the water supply riser

Major repairs of risers begin with drawing up a diagram of the distribution of cold water pipes in all necessary places (bathroom, kitchen, toilet) and preparing the necessary materials.

When replacing cast iron pipes with those made of polypropylene, you can count on an environmentally friendly and durable water supply design. The plastic version will also be a little inferior here. When installing cold water, polypropylene pipes are chosen due to their resistance to corrosion and the smoothness of the inner surface (limescale does not accumulate).

When replacing hot water pipes, it is better to use pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene; it is more resistant to high temperatures. Then there will be a chance to close the issue of re-repairing the water supply for a long time.

What do we have to do:

1. Resolve the issue with the management company and neighbors that the apartment will undergo a major water supply repair.
2. Be sure to close the taps before dismantling. Shutting off the valves is necessary so that there is no interference during work. Dismantle the old cold water system.
3. Plan the layout of a new section of cold water. Attach pipe holders to the wall.
4. Cut the pipes, cleaning the areas of intended soldering with alcohol.
5. Solder the cut pipes using a Teflon nozzle, heating the device to 250 degrees. The pipe and fitting must be put on the device at the same time, then after heating they are easily connected.
6. When connecting to a cold water riser coming from neighbors, use a coupling. If the risers are made of different materials, you need a coupling - an adapter.
7. After assembling the entire system, open the tap and check the tightness. If there is a leak, close the valve again and correct the problem.
8. Just in case, you shouldn’t hide the new riser, completely blocking access to it. There are situations where this may prevent problems from being fixed quickly.

A significant number of the population of our country are residents of multi-storey buildings that were built since Soviet times. According to the technical standards of that period, products made of cast iron and steel were used for the installation of intra-house pipelines. The materials are durable, but are susceptible to corrosion, rotting and, as a result, require replacement.

Who is responsible for this in a multi-story building?

Apartment residents, in order to prevent the consequences of unpleasant situations, often reinstall risers and branches at their own expense. However, this is not entirely true.

According to Art. 161 of the Housing Code and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of 05/06/11 (Article 149), repair and replacement of risers are entirely the responsibility of the housing management company. The apartment owner pays monthly bills, in particular for “maintenance and repairs.” All work related to communications must be performed for these funds. In the event of an accident, the housing office must update the pipes, and collecting money from people is illegal.

Who pays for the replacement in a privatized apartment?

As a result of the privatization process, not only living space, but also metering devices, plumbing equipment, and communications become property. This is confirmed by Art. 36 Housing Code of the Russian Federation and Government Decree No. 491 as amended. dated March 26, 2014. The owner has the right to dispose at his own discretion:

• replace metal pipes with plastic ones;
• install new plumbing fixtures, stopcocks, meters;
• change radiators.

However, with regard to common risers connecting several floors, the issue is controversial. Vertical pipelines can be located in special shafts or pass through the apartment. Placement is not of fundamental importance. Owners of both privatized and non-privatized apartments make regular payments, due to which the management company carries out maintenance and replacement of pipes. The owner is obliged to carry out repairs only of intra-apartment branches from the riser.

Procedure

If an urgent need arises, the first thing you should do is contact the management company or housing office. You need to write an application to replace the risers, indicating a good reason and attaching at least 2 photographs of communications. The document is executed in two copies, one remains in the housing office, and the second with a mark of acceptance must be taken with you. To accept and consider the application, it is important that the homeowner be a bona fide utility payer.

1. The repair team quickly responds and replaces the emergency riser. The owner of the living space, in turn, provides access to the bathroom for unhindered repair work.
2. The management company refuses to replace the vertical pipeline, citing the fact that the pipeline is located on the owner’s premises and the owner of the apartment is responsible for it. In this case, you receive a written response with a refusal. You can then go to court with this document, but the process often drags on for several months.

Work order

When replacing pipes, it is important to first discuss the situation with your neighbors, otherwise the tie-in is carried out only from the ceiling to the floor. Sections of the old riser will remain in the ceiling, which in the future can lead to leaks in these places.

It is also impossible to do without the participation of representatives of the management company; they shut off the riser and drain the water. After which the pipelines are replaced in the following sequence:

1. using a grinder, dismantling is carried out, pulling out old pipes from the floor slabs;
2. make markings for inserting branches;
3. install new pipelines and wiring;
4. Connect the water and check all connections for leaks.

Advice: it is better not to change sewer risers yourself; the entire system may fail.


Pipes for hot water supply and heating systems are selected on the condition that they do not deform under the influence of heat. Polypropylene pipes are in demand today and have a number of advantages:

• resistance to corrosion;
• efficiency;
• ease of installation;
• absence of internal limestone deposits;
• environmental friendliness.

According to the legislation, the planned reinstallation of central highways is carried out every 25-30 years. House networks, intra-apartment heating pipes, and water supply to non-privatized apartments are subject to this scheme.