We have the drywall up on the ceiling, and I would love to keep going with the walls. Well, eventually we will get to it – after I’m done practicing my radiator skills.

We ran the PEX tubing for the radiator supply and return across the ceiling into each room. The image below shows where the PEX turns from the ceiling and down the wall, ending up close to the floor, where it will connect to the baseboard radiators.

These connections have to transition through the drywall into each room. As such, I have to prepare and install them, before I can hang the drywall.

Preparing the copper connection

The actual connection to the radiators will be with copper tubing and fittings. The transition from the PEX to copper happens behind the drywall. I had to cut, clean and assemble the connections, and, at the end, solder everything together.

Atop the connection is a male barb fitting that will be crimped to the pex tubing. The barb fitting is connected to a 12-inch copper pipe followed by a 90 degree vertical turn. This will get me through the drywall. Right after that I have a 90 degree horizontal turn that points me towards the radiator.

The connections need precise placement. I needed to know the exact spacing from the radiator connection to the drywall. I didn’t want to rely on measuring only, so I put a small mock-up together to make sure that I got the dimensions correct.

Installing copper connections

This all took a lot of thought. And it took some more, before I came up with a reliable installation process. Precision is again the keyword.

I needed to know at what height exactly I will hang the radiators. Once that height was determined, I could measure the dimensions from the floor to the radiator supply and return. I translated those dimensions onto a thin plywood template, which assured consistency throughout the installation.

Another piece of plywood, fastened between the studs, allowed me to securely attach the copper connections and minimize the potential for movement. I double checked that the connection was projecting into the room at the correct depth, that everything was level and plumb, and then cut the PEX tubing to the correct length and crimped it onto the barb fitting.

This is as far as I can go now. I can cut a small hole in the drywall and slide it over the horizontal turn of the copper connection. Once the drywall is up, I can finish the connection to the radiators.