How Much Does It Cost to Move a Radiator?

The cost of moving a radiator is almost all labour, so the real question is how long the job will take. A short shift along the same wall, with the pipes coming up through a timber floor, is the quick end of the scale. Moving a radiator to another wall or another room, running pipes under a solid floor or chasing them into a wall, and fitting new valves all add time. The radiator itself usually goes back up, so apart from a few fittings and a little pipe, you're paying for a plumber's hours. Here's what decides how many.

What moving a radiator costs

We price radiator moves the same way we price everything else: labour at £95 an hour, a £60 call-out that is waived when the job runs over 2 hours, and materials such as pipe, fittings and new valves at trade cost with no markup. Before any work starts we look at the route the pipes need to take and confirm the price, so you're not watching the clock. Our full rates are on the pricing page.

Anyone quoting a flat figure for "moving a radiator" without asking where it's going and what the floor is made of is guessing. The same job can be quick in a Victorian terrace with suspended timber floors and much slower in a flat with a screeded concrete floor.

What affects the price

• The route, more than the distance. Two metres under floorboards can be quicker than half a metre through a concrete floor. The plumber has to get new flow and return pipes from the old position to the new one, and the floor decides how easy that is.
• Floor type. Suspended timber floors mean lifting boards, running pipe between the joists and notching or drilling where needed. Solid concrete floors usually mean surface-run pipe along the skirting, boxing in, or cutting a channel in the screed, which is slower and messier.
• Draining down. Most moves involve draining at least part of the system, then refilling, bleeding and adding inhibitor. On a larger house or an old open-vented system this can take a good part of the visit on its own.
• Pipe size and material. Standard 15mm copper or plastic is straightforward. Older microbore systems (8mm or 10mm pipe) and old imperial pipework may need adaptors or a section of new pipe.
• The wall at the new position. Brick and block hold brackets easily. A stud or plasterboard wall needs fixings into the timbers or extra support, especially for a large double panel or a column radiator full of water.
• Valves. Old valves that are seized or weeping are usually replaced during a move rather than refitted. See our guides to lockshield valves and TRV settings.
• Making good. Plumbers put floorboards back, but replastering, tiling, decorating and refitting fitted flooring are separate trades and separate costs.

Common types of radiator move

Does the system need draining?

Taking a radiator off the wall for decorating rarely needs a full drain: you close both valves and drain just that radiator, as our guide on how to remove a radiator explains. Moving one is different, because the pipes themselves have to be cut and extended.

Depending on the layout, a plumber will:

• Drain part of the system, for example just the ground floor, if the pipework and drain-off points allow it.
• Drain the whole system where there's no other way to isolate the section, following the steps in our guide to draining a central heating system.
• Use a pipe freezing kit to form a temporary ice plug either side of the cut, so the system stays full. It suits short, accessible pipe runs.

Whenever water comes out, the job should finish with the system refilled, bled, dosed with fresh inhibitor and, on a sealed combi or system boiler, repressurised. Skipping the inhibitor saves a few minutes and shortens the life of every radiator in the house.

Moving and replacing at the same time

If a radiator is being moved, the system is already drained and the pipes are open, so swapping to a new radiator or new valves adds very little labour. It's worth thinking about when:

• the existing radiator is rusty, weeping from a seam or cold at the bottom even after bleeding;
• the new position is a different width or height, for example under a window or beside a door;
• the room has always felt cold and the radiator may simply be too small for it;
• the valves are old, stiff or have been leaking at the spindle.

A new radiator should be sized for the room's heat loss, not just for the gap on the wall. If you're not sure whether yours is worth keeping, see how long radiators last and when to replace them, or our radiator replacement service.

Can you move a radiator yourself?

Taking a radiator off and putting it back in the same place is a reasonable DIY job for a careful person. Moving it is a step further: you're cutting into the heating circuit, extending pipes, making joints that will sit under the floor out of sight, and refilling and repressurising the system. The common problems we see after DIY moves are:

• a compression or push-fit joint under the floor that weeps slowly and stains a ceiling below weeks later;
• plastic pipe fitted without the correct inserts, or not clipped properly, so it sags or pulls out;
• a system left without inhibitor, or overfilled so the pressure relief valve drips;
• pipes run where floorboard nails or screws later go straight through them.

If you do the preparation yourself, such as clearing the room and lifting the floor covering, it can take time off the job. Leave the pipework to a plumber unless you're confident with the joints and know how your system is filled.

How to keep the cost down

1. Decide the position early. Moving a radiator before new flooring, plastering or decorating is much quicker than working around finished surfaces.
2. Clear the access. Furniture moved, carpet or laminate lifted along the pipe route, and the area below accessible if it's a ground floor with a void.
3. Group the jobs. If more than one radiator is moving, or valves elsewhere need replacing, do them at the same drain-down.
4. Have the new radiator on site if you're buying your own, and check its pipe centres and valve connections match what you want.
5. Think about the route. A position that keeps the pipes under timber boards is quicker than one that crosses a concrete hallway.

Once it's back on, a moved radiator may heat differently from the rest. If some rooms are slow to warm up afterwards, the system may need balancing; see how to balance radiators or our radiator balancing service. Pipework that's being extended is also a good moment to decide between materials, which our guide to copper vs plastic pipes covers.

If the toilet is moving as part of the same refit, our guide to the cost to move a toilet explains why the soil pipe route, not the distance, sets the time.

Frequently Asked Questions