FAQ industrial style plumbing decoration
Steel pipes and plumbing fittings for a custom vintage industrial plumbing decor. Create your own industrial style decoration.
Tips and tricks, our tips
What colour are the pipes and fittings?
The pipes (nipples, coils) are made of steel and the fittings are made of cast iron or crude steel to protect them from corrosion during transport and storage.
Standard black steel pipes are made of crude steel and the colour can vary from light steel grey through shades of grey to black depending on the production batch.
Black steel tubes are shot blasted using our shot blasting process which changes the colour and shade to a uniform matt umber grey "RAL 7022" with slight shading and texture.
Pre-assembled and assembled Deco Kits are always supplied with the chosen finish and ready to install.
How do I assemble screw connections?
The tubes are manually tightened in their fitting and thanks to the tapered thread (BSPT Whitworth) they lock automatically when fully tightened.
When screwing in the thread, the first 8 to 12 millimetres of the thread will be used, depending on the diameter of the tube chosen. When calculating, therefore, take as a reference the first 10 mm of the thread for pipe sizes 1/2″ and 3/4″, and the first 11 mm of the thread for pipe size 1″.
When assembling, tighten more or less tightly in order to adjust the dimensions of your project.
For more details and information on the calculation and dimensions of steel pipes, please refer to our article: Choosing and sizing black and galvanised steel pipes for decorative plumbing connections
How do I install tubular direct connectors?
The tubes are inserted manually into the fitting, and the locking screws on the fitting secure the tube to the fitting.
Direct fittings can be mixed with plumbing fittings using single-thread pipes. Single-threaded pipes have one threaded side and one unthreaded side.
When calculating the length of steel pipes, account must be taken of the part that runs into the fitting. For 1/2″ steel pipes, 20mm will be inserted and for 3/4″ pipe, 25mm will be inserted.
For more details and information on the calculation and dimensions of steel pipes here is our article: Choice and dimensions for direct fitting and deco scaffolding pipe
Do I have to treat my pipes and fittings or can I leave them as they are?
For damp interior rooms such as bathrooms and toilets (or if the structure comes into contact with water/steam), it is strongly recommended that a finish be applied because, due to the nature of the materials (raw steel and raw cast iron), they may oxidize in the form of rust over time or if they come into contact with moisture.
When applying a finish, degreasing is necessary before applying your finish (varnish, oil, wax, paint).
Degreasing can be done with our metal cleaner or with brake cleaner available in your favourite DIY shop.
Several types of finish are possible:
- Baked linseed oil applied in a very thin layer so that it does not remain sticky to the touch, drying between 24 and 48 hours;
- Wax for metal and cast iron;
- Clear matte varnish in 2 coats (available in our shop: Matte varnish) ;
- Satin clear varnish in 2 coats (available in our shop: Satin varnish) ;
- Clear gloss varnish in 2 layers (available in our shop: Gloss varnish) ;
- Paint in 2 coats. We resell Montana Black spray paints, which allow you to have a superb finish, slightly textured or not, depending on the distance of application. You can find our colour range in our shop in the colour section;
- Don't hesitate to contact us for this type of finish;
How to apply a finish?
To remove this protective film and apply your own finish, we recommend using our metal cleaner (available in our shop: metal cleaner) designed for this purpose, or alternatively brake cleaner available from your favorite DIY store. If you prefer to leave the fittings and tubes as they are, you can simply wipe and rub them vigorously with a cloth.
Please note that without a finish, these will develop a patina over time, oxidizing in the form of rust depending on the ambient humidity or if they come into direct contact with water or steam.
For a painted finish, it is recommended to lightly sand the surface of standard steel tubes for good paint adhesion. However, for shot-blasted steel fittings and tubes, no sanding is required as they already have a good adhesion surface.
For a varnished finish, no sanding is required in order to keep the surface rough after degreasing.
You can then apply the finish of your choice.
It is worth noting that when applying a varnish or boiled linseed oil, the color of the fittings and tubes will darken slightly and return to the same color as before degreasing.
Discover our range of spray paints and varnishes in our paint and varnish shop. Montana Black spray paint cans provide a superb finish, with or without a slight texture, depending on the application distance and the type of spray cap. The spray caps allow you to choose the shape and flow of the paint spray. You can find them in the color accessories category.
Type of threads ?
All threads on fittings and tubes (nipples, coils) are Whitworth BSP (British Standard Pipe) gas threads, which is the European standard.
Female threads on conventional fittings are BSPT (tapered), on cast-iron fittings BSPP, and male threads are BSPT tapered DIN EN 10226, formerly ISO 7-1.
Why are fittings and tubes made of steel and cast iron?
All cast iron plumbing fittings and steel pipes, known as black finish, have a raw appearance with an oil coating designed to protect them from oxidation during transport.
They are therefore raw so that they can be adapted to a multitude of different finishes depending on the industrial look you want to achieve.
The finish can be chosen from shot-blasted pipes with or without varnish (matte, satin, glossy).
But it can also be simply boiled linseed oil, wax, or even paint in the color of your choice.