what kind of paint to use on cast iron radiators

The homeowner was frantic in his electronic mail to me because he had painted a few of his sometime radiators over the weekend and as soon as the heat came on they smelled carcinogenic. That'southward what he said – carcinogenic. "Nosotros accept a baby!" he wrote. "Can that smell hurt the baby?"

I'd say that's one of those questions that yous should never answer past electronic mail, or even in person. I played impaired, which is a expert matter to be from fourth dimension to fourth dimension. It took me years to learn that.

Just his question got me thinking about the correct and incorrect ways to paint old radiators, so I posed the question to the good people who participate on The Wall (our very-active message at HeaingHelp.com). Here's what they had to say about their experiences:

John: When customers enquire, I tell them to clean the radiator with trisodium phosphate, and then prime it with an alkyd, oil-based primer, followed past a good latex peak coat. Sherman Williams and California are two top brands that I have used with adept results. Utilise a castor and hot dog roller. Select a top coat that's a shade lighter than the color of the wall. Radiators seem to darken afterwards a few heat cycles and so blend with the wall.

Mike: I am a painting contractor and we always use Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo to pigment radiators. It is alkyd enamel that sprays well and has a beautiful finish. If nosotros cannot convince the homeowner to remove the radiators and then that we can properly paint them in our shop, nosotros are forced to paint the radiators in place. We apply either a hot canis familiaris roller or a paint brush designed to paint radiators (it's shaped like a hockey stick and you tin can find these with a Google search). When painting radiators in place, the oil-based enamel has splendid adhesion to the marginally prepared surfaces. Latex paint is for homeowners.

(So Mike, the professional person painter, disagrees with John, the professional heating contractor on whether the meridian coat should be latex or oil-based. It sounds like they both become good results, though – D.H.)

Thad: Sandblast and pulverisation glaze for a couple hundred bucks per radiator and they'll expect brand new. The existent fox is to bake them for a bit longer and so that any outgassing from the cast fe occurs before the powder coat dries. This volition avoid whatever surface blemishes. I take had seven, 100-year-sometime steam radiators done this fashion and they all came out fantastic. And a fiddling bonus is that the finish is so smooth that dust and true cat pilus don't become stuck in between the sections. It just comes out with a whiskbroom, which I utilize once a month.

Phil: I sandblasted ane myself last fall and painted it with Rustoleum (their statuary metallic stop). The pigment went on easily, dried quickly and the radiator looked terrific after painting. Information technology did accept a couple of days to finish outgassing once the heat came on, though, then some people volition have a problem with that. The paint is somewhat soft, and will get tacky when it is hot (the kids hats and gloves tend to stick when left to dry out) and it seems to collect dust and pilus. I may try the powder coating method next time, and compare the costs (the do-it-myself solution price less than $20)

(You lot get what you pay for. – D.H.)

Mike T.:  I have only painted a few steam radiators, and for near of them, I used manifestly latex wall paint over an already-sound, painted surface. I saw one batch a few years later, and they were okay, simply non great, with a few modest areas of rust coming through. I did a couple with traditional, oil-based silverish "radiator" pigment. The status of the existing paint (silver) was non too proficient, simply the customer didn't want to go the expense of stripping the onetime paint. I haven't seen information technology, but the client never complained. I oasis't even so constitute anyone willing to pay what I consider a very reasonable fee for one of my custom bronzing jobs.

Tim: I sandblast them and then utilise an automotive spray gun for the paint. I did utilize Rustoleum on my first 3 final year. I had to sparse it by half for it to work with the spray gun. I finally bought a compressor to handle the air requirements for the sandblasting before the painting. What a departure!

Kevin: I painted ii radiators three years ago with Rustoleum high-oestrus paint in a spray tin. They're nevertheless perfect. The can says the paint can handle up to one,200 degrees, but there are not a lot of choices when it comes to colors.

Dave: I accept radiators sandblasted and pulverisation-coated all the time. They look stunning when they are done. I use a commercial painting company that handles both the diggings and the blanket. They have many colors from which to choose. The radiators are cooked at 400-degrees Fahrenheit. Information technology's important not to get them any hotter than that because the paper gaskets between the radiator sections can be damaged, causing the radiator to leak. Ask me how I know. A large radiator tin can hands cost as much as $400 for the whole procedure, plus the time information technology takes to disconnect, send to and from the pigment shop, and reinstall after. The finish is quite durable, though, and it looks like porcelain.

Patrick: Ditto to everything that'south been said well-nigh powder-coating. I hate the thought of paying someone else to do what I can practise myself with a piddling sweat and elbow grease, merely powder coating is so superior compared to the results I tin can achieve with even a professional spray setup that I find it'due south really worth the cost. I've had zero off-gassing problems; the finish is perfect (no drips, drabs, or missed spots), and let's face information technology – doing a adept job of cleaning and painting a radiator of any size is one of the more onerous tasks imaginable. Refinishing radiators seems to me to be a textbook-perfect example of when powder blanket makes sense.

Sure sounds to me like power coating wins. Check with a local car-body shop. They'll often do this sort of work for you lot. And I've had pros tell me that they've taken radiators to monument makers at local cemeteries for sandblasting.

And since I'grand not an M.D., I'll pass on the medical questions.

Ray:If the one-time paint is failing, and was lead based, I would not even remove information technology without setting upwards iv-mil plastic sheeting for containment before taking off the piping and wrapping the whole unit of measurement in heavy duty plastic and taping it securely before moving. If information technology had lead pigment, I would either bring it to the scrap yard, or pay someone the large bucks to strip it properly. Sand diggings it at home is definitely non the correct course of action.

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Source: https://heatinghelp.com/blog/how-to-paint-an-old-radiator/

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