Painting Radiators covered with chipped paint

olly300

I moved into a new place and noticed that the previous owners have painted over the radiators. :mad: (They painted over the radiators in white paint)

Unfortunately the paint is lumpy and chipping so I have to remove the layers of paint. Some of the radiators have one layer others have three layers.

What is the best kind of paint to redo the radiators in?

I'm doing them white cos then I can use the same paint for all the rooms plus my skirting boards and doors are white satin wood.

mexicanwaver

Just out of interest, how are you removing the layers of paint? Heat gun?

I also have a problem with mine, where the previous owner(s) have plastered them in thick gunky paint (again, in white!!!). I need to get around to cleaning them up and repainting, so any advice appreciated.

cattie

To get the best result on radiators with a hardwearing finish, use a radiator enamel.

For a really professional looking finish with no brush marks then use a spray paint.

I've never had to strip paint off radiators, so can't help there, sorry. Perhaps one of the paint manufacturers, such as Ronseal, would be able to advise you.

olly300

Mexicanwaver - My DIY books don't suggest you use heat when stripping metal simply because metal conducts heat so could get very hot. (There may be more reasons so I will check when I get home.)

I emailed Hammerite who make specialist paints including radiator paint, and they recommend sanding then using a chemical stripper if it doesn't work.

I know from stripping the badly painted wood work that coarse sand paper on an electric sander or wire wool and a scrapper followed by smoother sand paper works well. However with radiators it's suggested to use a mixture of coarse sand paper/wire wool/scapper and wire brush.

I have also googled and all that seems to be recommended is sanding followed by some form of chemical stripping either using professionals or at home in a well ventilated place (normally the garden).

If the radiator is an old one, pre-1970 it may have lead paint on it so special care needs to be taken when stripping this of i.e. no dry sanding, chemical stripping only.

Information on other DIY boards suggest that depending on the cost it may just be worth getting a new radiator as stripping causes a lot of mess and is a lot of effort.

Somewhere else I found said simply you should NEVER paint radiators in the first place. As you are setting yourself up for headaches in future. (This doesn't help you or I but may help others who search for this thread.) Instead use a radiator cover.

never_enough

I'd replace them, it's really not worth all the effort of stripping & painting.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

We moved here last year and the radiators were disgusting big chips and layer and layers of different coloured paints.The one's we could'nt replace we spent ages having to do them up.We sanded but you do have to be careful that you dont oversand.When we got them smoothed in the worst area's we used hammerite radiator enamel.Some of the radiators needed up to six coats to look smooth and new.By the way I don't recommend ronseal radiator paint,if you don't get a good fix it just flakes off when the radiator heats up.All in all if you can replace, I would do it takes a lot of work and the paint is not that cheap considering you need quite a bit per radiator.

olly300

never_enough wrote: »

I'd replace them, it's really not worth all the effort of stripping & painting.

I would replace them ALL except I've measured them and they are not standard sizes. :mad:

Anyway I'm halfway through stripping the worse one I'm going to strip. Most of the others are just covered with one coat of badly applied paint.

Little_John

You dont really need to compleatly strip them, wet and dry sanding will remove all the rough paint and provide you with a nicesmooth surface to paint again.

rough sand paper first to remove the top surface then kick in with the wet sanding to make a nice smooth surface ready to paint, wipe them down after to remove any dust let them dry and paint.