How to cover copper laundry pipes?

[Melissa4]

Hi guys, am doing a DIY small apartment laundry reno. Have knocked out a laundry cabinet and removed the chipboard that was previously boxing in the copper pipes, to hide them. Will be putting another cabinet in which will hide the lower half, haven't decided yet on the upper half, but was wondering should I repair the render that looks like it was used to semi attach the pipes against the wall? You can see where it's fallen apart. Also, any creative design ideas or practical considerations if I wanted to leave the pipes exposed (I imagine painting isn't an effective or recommended idea). They're also covered in concrete/render as you can see. Thanks for your help!!

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @Melissa4,

Thank you for your question.

There is no need to repair the render as it is not serving any real function. It appears to just be somewhat sloppy finishing work from the past.

My suggestion is to leave the render as is and simply box the pipes out using pine framing, then clad the frame with villaboard. This would conceal the pipes and neatly finish them off.

You could then finish the boxed-out pipes using tiles, paint or a wall covering of your choice.

Allow me to tag @Dave-1, @AlanM52 and @Nailbag for their thoughts.

Jacob

[AlanM52]

Hi @Melissa4,

You could also do the artistic thing and make that corner a laundry feature.with polished pipes and shelves for storage or pot plants.

Repair the render ready for painting.

Clean the copper pipes.

I would do three shelves so make them with circular jigsaw cuts in the corners.

Evenly spaced install and secure the shelves.

Then remove and put aside.

Paint the corner, use a lino tile to get the brush in behind the pipes.

Polish the pipes and replace the shelves.

Use for storage and/or decorate.

The top shelf is out of reach so I would have a pot plant on that one.

One that tends to drape over the edge so it hangs down.

If you take this path come back for more discussion.

Cheers

[Nailbag]

Hi @Melissa4 

I agree with @JacobZ as to not bother re-rendering anything. But I would securing the pipes if they feel loose at all with wedges or packers behind them. This will prevent any possible knocking down-track.

As far as finishing I like the idea of boxing out the lower half, then cleaning the render off the top half of the copper pipes and polishing them. This makes them more of a deliberate feature rather than a job not completed.

Nailbag

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Melissa4 

Id actually forgo the rending and box them in, making sure that the box lid is accesable in case access is needed somewhere down the track, I would go as far as to make the fixings for the lid stand out and dress the lid in timber trim so its tidy but physically protects and covers the overall pipe.

Dave