Michael Thomas
04-21-2009, 12:23 PM
Saw this today in a large building built in 1947, and two questions occurred to me:
1) Is it safe to assume this is a common element? I would assume so, but just wanted to be certain.
2) For my own information:
- What is the likely construction and expected life of such a system? Supply plumbing within the unit were visible under sinks in the kitchen and bathroom galvanized steel, so I know *that's* like the original and at or near the end of its expected service life, but what's likely to be in the floor of a building of this vintage? Galvanized? Copper? The only place where the heating systems plumbing was visible was a small section that closet and presumably connecting to the thermostat which was on the opposite side of the wall, what I saw there was iron.
- If galvanized, would one expect this would have a longer life than supply plumbing as the oxygen level is lower, as is the case in other hydronic systems?
- At a building of this age and size (or probably 75 to 100 units) and age, would one normally expect an engineering study would have been performed to identify the material and estimate its condition and remaining life for a reserve study?
1) Is it safe to assume this is a common element? I would assume so, but just wanted to be certain.
2) For my own information:
- What is the likely construction and expected life of such a system? Supply plumbing within the unit were visible under sinks in the kitchen and bathroom galvanized steel, so I know *that's* like the original and at or near the end of its expected service life, but what's likely to be in the floor of a building of this vintage? Galvanized? Copper? The only place where the heating systems plumbing was visible was a small section that closet and presumably connecting to the thermostat which was on the opposite side of the wall, what I saw there was iron.
- If galvanized, would one expect this would have a longer life than supply plumbing as the oxygen level is lower, as is the case in other hydronic systems?
- At a building of this age and size (or probably 75 to 100 units) and age, would one normally expect an engineering study would have been performed to identify the material and estimate its condition and remaining life for a reserve study?