Viega Pipe Replacement in Warsaw: Press Fittings That Hold

Viega in practice: pressing instead of threading or soldering

Viega is a German maker of press-fitting systems, with versions for copper, steel, stainless and multilayer pipe. The pipe is cut to length, pushed into the fitting and crimped with a press tool. No flame and no threading, which matters in a flat with a wooden floor.

Each system has its own jaw profile. Jaws from a different system can crimp a fitting that looks fine and still won’t hold. So ask in the bid which tool the plumber uses. Viega fittings are designed so that an unpressed joint lets water through during the pressure test, which means a missed crimp shows up straight away, not six months later inside the wall.

In blocks of flats the water riser usually belongs to the housing association or cooperative. You replace the pipes in your own flat, but the riser and its valves are agreed with the building management.

Rather hand the job over? More here: a good plumber in Warsaw.

Where money gets wasted

• Copper joined straight to steel without an adapter. Two metals in direct contact corrode faster.
• Replacing only the visible piece. If the same rusty steel carries on inside the wall, the leak just moves a few centimetres along.
• No pressure test before the chase is filled. That’s the only moment a bad joint costs one new fitting.
• Pipes buried without insulation sleeves. They move with temperature and rub against the plaster.

Getting the flat ready

• Find the valve that isolates your flat and check that it works.
• Photograph the pipes, meters and any spots where leaks show.
• Move furniture and cabinets away from the walls being worked on.
• If the riser has to be shut off, arrange it with the building management in advance.

Before any work on the pipes, the water goes off and the pressure is released. Viega also makes gas systems, but nobody touches a gas pipe without a gas qualification.

Booking the work

1. Describe in the app which run needs replacing, what the pipes are made of and where it leaks. Add photos.
2. Plumbers who take this kind of job in Warsaw send bids with their own price and date.
3. Pick one on price, ratings and reviews. The plumber sees your phone number and address only after you choose, you pay him directly, and he issues the invoice.

Pipes and fittings are charged as materials, and so is taking away rubble after chasing walls. Whoever made the joints answers for them and will redo any that leak. The old riser and the rest of the original pipework are not on him. Other plumbing jobs are listed under bathroom and plumbing.