Replacing risers without unnecessary worries

Risers handle the distribution of water in apartment buildings from the basement up to the top floor. Many people use this term for sewage piping too, but that is not entirely accurate. Risers in fact only ensure the water's rise upwards, but in practice we often come across cases where this term is used to describe the piping as a whole. In most buildings the water-supply and waste piping are placed in a single shaft between the bathroom or apartment core and the kitchen.

Especially in older developments, replacing risers is often necessary

Not only houses from the First Republic and the post-war era, but also a large proportion of those built during the communist regime, today have risers in a critical condition. Moreover, they are often made of health-hazardous lead pipes. Even steel piping is not ideal, as it succumbs to corrosion. This often leads to a complete breach of the material, which can end in water seepage or even flooding of the building.

Prefab apartment buildings are a chapter of their own

More than a million inhabitants of the Czech Republic live in prefab apartment buildings today. Most prefab buildings have undergone renovation in recent decades, gained new facades and insulation, and many owners have also altered the internal layouts of the uniform flats. But even though the faces of the once drably grey housing estates have lit up with bright colours, in many prefab buildings the risers have not yet been replaced. The original ones have already approached the limit of their service life, and if new ones have not yet been installed, it will be necessary in the near future.

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Risers are replaced all at once

Risers are a shared part of the building, so the cost of replacing the risers should be borne by the association of unit owners from the repair fund. The same applies in the case of housing cooperatives. Owners, and by extension the occupants of the flats, are obliged to provide access to them in the event of replacement.

What problems can arise when replacing risers?

The replacement of risers in a prefab building most often causes displeasure. The vast majority of their occupants have invested considerable resources in building a new bathroom core. It's no wonder; the original Umakart bathrooms and toilets were uncomfortable and poorly laid out. An awkward situation for the unit owner, however, arises when they have had only small access panels installed in the new bathroom. When replacing the risers, demolition is then necessary, which causes the owner considerable damage. So if a replacement of risers is planned, it is better to carry out the bathroom renovation only after the risers have been replaced.

When building a new bathroom it pays to get larger access panels

Access panels serve mainly for taking water-meter readings, or for replacing the meter. If they provide sufficient access to the risers, the replacement of risers can also take place through their opening. The required size of the opening also depends on the specific firm carrying out the replacement. That is why many people cover the risers with plasterboard rather than masonry and install access panels into the opening in the plasterboard. In such a case the whole wall is more easily removed and returned to its original state. Depending on whether the wall or plasterboard is covered with tiling or plaster, we choose suitable access panels, that is access panels under tiling or access panels under paint. If water will fall directly onto the panel (for example in a shower enclosure or behind the bathtub), waterproof access panels will be the most suitable.