Like everything else, the old radiators need periodic maintenance. In our house, which has 9 or 10 of the things in it, they especially need paint right now. Over the past nine years, I've painted two of them. In both cases — one in the kitchen, the other in the W.C. — I've unscrewed the pipes, taken the radiators off the wall, and laid them down on the floor to do the job of washing, scraping, priming, and painting them.
I put pieces of cardboard behind the radiator to protect the wall
while I was spraying and washing the thing.
while I was spraying and washing the thing.
The main problem with that is that the bigger radiators weigh a ton. Walt and I can't even lift some of them. I've tried to rent some kind of dolly, jack, cart, or other apparatus we could use to lift them up off their mounting brackets and move them away from the wall, but with no luck.
Besides, before you can unscrew the pipes and take down a radiator, you have to empty the whole heating system of water. That means hooking a garden hose up to the boiler down in the utility room and letting all the water run out of the tank and all the radiators either into the yard or into the sewer. It takes an hour or two for it all to drain out. I don't know how much water the system holds, but I do know that you have to refill the boiler before you can use the heat again. Then you have to go around the house and bleed all the radiators. It's a lot of trouble.
We repainted the kitchen radiator a few years ago by taking it down
off the wall. The wall behind it needed repainting as well.
off the wall. The wall behind it needed repainting as well.
So now, since we are suffering from cabin fever, what with all the rain all the time, I've decided to start working on a "test" radiator to see if I can actually repaint it in place. Yesterday I worked on cleaning one in the hallway that's easy to get to — spraying it with water and then a solution of bleach and soap, and finally spraying it again with water to rinse it off. I used a rag and an old toothbrush as needed to remove all the dust and dirt that had accumulated on the radiator ribs and pipes.
Now I have to paint it. I can't decide whether spray-painting it or painting it with a brush would be better. I guess I'll try the brush first. I'm hoping the radiator won't look worse when I finish than it did before I started. Any ideas?
There are flat brushes that are at an angle so you can paint inside the radiator, but probably not completely in the back. But that is better than nothing if you can't remove the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteActually, CHM, I think we have a couple of those brushes. We bought them years ago. We may even have used them when we painted the two radiators I mentioned. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTry to line the wall in the back with a plastic sheet and or newspapers. Start with those special paintbrushes in the back and then do the front.
ReplyDeleteMake sure the heat is off -- Now for the month of July, you'd expect the heat to be off, but Paul decided this morning that the chill and humidity required turning the heat back on, and as I sit here in my multiple layers of warm clothing, I agree.
Drop some cardboard in behind the radiator and use really good quality brushes and the appropriate paint so that you don't get drag lines.
ReplyDeleteJe n'ai rien a dire. I've never met a radiator nor a paintbrush. ;)
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I thought you painted some of the walls in your kitchen.
ReplyDeleteEllen and Andrew, thanks. And Ellen, no, we haven't turned our heat on... yet. It's raining again this afternoon.
We spray-painted ours and it definitely went a lot faster than with a brush. You just need to be careful to have a steady spray in order to avoid drips.
ReplyDeleteI would be zero help here. No, that's not true. I'm really good at supplying moral support.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that your radiators will look better than anyone else's :) I've never known of anyone to be so thorough with cleaning and painting a radiator. It's little details like that, however, that make a house look especially nice, so... spray or brush, all I can say is, "Vive le radiateur!" (I had to get some kind of "Vive ...!" statement in today, didn't I!?)
ReplyDeleteVive la France!
I'm admiring your industry. The only thought I have to contribute is for the prep stage: a wire brush does a pretty good job of loosening rust. Did the toothbrush really do any good on the rust? I'd think it would be too soft.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Most our cast iron radiators exploded during the cold snap in February and were replaced by previous owner since.
ReplyDeleteWe did find one that was not too bad in shape, had it sand blasted (40.00) and then with a couple of cans of spray paint (18.00) we got it back into shape. It's broken, so the only use for it will be a wall table (marble top) in the entrance hall.
You guys are always so busy. I need a nap.
ReplyDeleteWe had radiators in Cincinnati- most of them had covers on them which were nice to sit on in the winter.
ReplyDeleteI think your housekeeping skills are in the 99th percentile. Good luck with this project.
The weather needs to let up for the Olympics!
Ken,
ReplyDeleteWe painted radiators upstairs. There was one in the bathroom that we took off the wall, didn't bother to drain the whole system, and then put it back in place without a problem. We painted two others in situ, but our radiators are flatter than yours, so it was easy with just a flat brush, and an angled brush. Our painter did several radiators downstairs and used a paint gun to spray the radiators. He used cardboard to protect the baseboards. Sorry you didn't mention this at dinner the other night, we could have inspected the work and determined if our technique was up to standard.
Thanks Keir. I'll go ahead and paint the one I've cleaned and see how it goes. I'm going to paint it the same color as the wall behind it, so there shouldn't be too much mess when I've finished.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what I Iam planning on doing in the few weeks of real summer that we have here in Halifax, Canada. How did it work out in the end? I am thinking of using silver metallic spray paint - I asked at two different hardware stores and they said you don't need high heat paint, hot water rads don't apparently get hot enough to need that. A good thing since I cannot find high heat metallic paint. Hoping it works! Any advice would be welcome, taking them off the wall is not an option as they are too big and unwieldy.
ReplyDeleteMy radiator painting project got put on hold because our weather turned so nice. It was better to use my time in the garden. Meanwhile, I did buy some special radiator paint. It's acrylic, so cleans up with water, which I like. I'll post about it when I get back to the project.
ReplyDeletePainting a radiator is such a hard work to do properly. Congrats you've done it right!
ReplyDelete