Once upon a time, all homes were built with electrics and plumbing carefully concealed in the walls. However, with the recent trend in converting old industrial units and the demand for more modern hot water and heating systems, many people have started to adopt an exposed plumbing approach.
In fact, done properly it can become a great decorative feature and help to create the desired style, especially in minimalist houses. It’s also a very practical option as putting plumbing into walls after the house is built is a messy, disruptive, and time-consuming process.
But, if you’re thinking of doing this is important to be aware of the benefits and the disadvantages, as well as using a specialist in hot water systems Sydney.
The Pros
There are several!
- Ease Of Fitting
The most obvious benefit is that exposed plumbing is much easier to fit. There’s no need to hide it in the walls or spend hours chasing channels and creating compartments to hide the plumbing. Instead, you simply add pipe clamps to the walls and slot the pipes into place.
The job can be completed much faster, is less disruptive, and creates substantially less mess.
- Maintenance
If you have an issue with your plumbing it’s much easier to see where a leak is occurring or to replace a joint, if you can already see the pipes. In addition, it’s much easier to add extra connections into exposed pipes.
You’ll also appreciate the fact that you can virtually effortlessly drain a hot water system without risk of getting your walls or flooring covered in water and encouraging moisture buildup, which can cause structural and health issues.
- Style
Exposed pipes are stylish, especially when mounted against a white, or pale-colored, wall. The pipes create a distinctive pattern which draws the eye and adds charm, even to a modern home.
In fact, you can even plan the exposed pipes to create just the right look in your home, blending in with the rest of the interior design.
Cons
It’s important to consider the negatives in order to make sure you have adopted the right approach to your home.
- Hot – Safety Risk
When you run hot water through exposed pipes the pipes will get hot. That’s inevitable and obvious but it doesn’t change the safety risk associated with hot pipes, especially if you have children in the house.
It’s very easy to forget the pipes are hot and burn yourself.
You’ll find that exposed pipes also allow more heat to escape from the water, lowering the temperature of it at your faucet. The longer the pipe run the greater the temperature decrease.
This either means you’ll need to survive with cooler water or you need to turn the thermostat up on your water heater to counteract the effect.
- Copper
The best looking exposed pipes are copper, you can’t have plastic piping going around your rooms, it simply won’t have the same effect.
However, copper piping is more expensive and it tarnishes easily. That means you’re going to need to clean it regularly to ensure it stays looking its best.
