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Stripping Radiators LARRY ON RADIATORS: Pulling a cast-iron radiator is easy enough: 1. Drain the heating system (if hot water) (Note that some radiators are soldered in place. For example, at least some of the radiators in Pika were soldered in, as I learned many years ago when I helped out during work week. I had to unsolder a radiator, rotate it 90 degrees, and then resolder it in place as part of a project to reconfigure the walls in that room. - Ted) Liz, what did you do for stripping when you did that lovely repainting of Larry's front hall radiator? I did the prep and undercoat (the cranberry over which Liz did the lovely gold detailing), in oil-based paint. Fortunately, the radiator was only covered with some of the traditional silver paint and lots of dust and spooge, which I thoroughly washed off. The silver was in good shape. In the Old Days, plumbers were responsible for painting radiators, usually metallic silver or bronze. This reportedly annoyed my father's father, who was a master plumber. Nobody (except painters maybe) liked dealing with paint. So I found a couple of articles about cast-iron radiators in Old House Journal, one of which had the picture that inspired Liz's paintjob. It mentioned that a few layers of paint don't affect the radiator's efficiency since they are thin and heat-conductive. The surface color matters most; silver and gold are (surprise!) worst, and dark is best. Shopping out the radiator for sandblasting would be best, but the things are so heavy and fragile you might consider renting sandblasting equipment and DIYing, instead of moving them. Or, use chemical stripper outdoors. That's what I plan to do if I ever get around to dealing with the heavily-painted ones. Don't even think about taking apart a cast-iron radiator to move or clean it. They were made in separate sections, but some were threaded together and are now rust-welded. Some are joined with compression fittings that are also not guaranteed to survive being taken apart. If you want radiator covers, BTW, just look in the yellow pages, there are local shops that make 'em. It's a shame to cover up beatifully-detailed radiators like some of the ones in my house and they rob a little efficiency, but wood ones can be attractive. (If anyone wants to make 'em and has basic cabinetmaking skills, it's not hard, and I have a few unused ones you can look at to copy the pattern.) -- Larry |
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