Painting steam radiators

jlo1029

Now that the heating season is over, I want to paint some of my radiators. The old paint is badly flaking. Everyone seems to have a different opinion but I’m planning on using Rust-Oleum brand oil primer and enamel paint (after removing flaky parts). Y’all are the experts... will this work or do I need to shell out for some fancy high heat paint?

Many opinions on the internet but I figure y’all are the real experts...

KC_Jones

There are a lot of opinions on this. You don't need anything that is high heat as the temps these radiators run at isn't really considered high heat in the world of paint. You should be good to use any high quality paint for this job.

I have a close friend that is a professional painter and has painted many engine blocks with standard automotive paints, high heat is for exhaust systems and barbecue grills.

Fred

You really need to clean/scrap/wire brush all the loose and flaking paint off. Starting with a solid base is the most critical part. I don't know how much off-gassing you will get, next heating season from the Rust-Oleum and enamel paint. Many of us, myself included have had excellent performance out of a really good ( Benjamin Moore) latex wall paint. I have some that are still great after 28 years!

KC_Jones

Fred said:

You really need to clean/scrap/wire brush all the loose and flaking paint off. Starting with a solid base is the most critical part. I don't know how much off-gassing you will get, next heating season from the Rust-Oleum and enamel paint. Many of us, myself included have had excellent performance out of a really good ( Benjamin Moore) latex wall paint. I have some that are still great after 28 years!

Agreed, Benjamin Moore is the best house paint around IMHO.

jlo1029

Ok, thanks. What would you use to prime the bare metal ? I have one where I’ve removed 95% of the paint, don’t think I can just put latex on bare metal.

And which variety of BM paint? That’s what I’ve used on walls and trim but I’ll need to buy more for the rads.

Fred

Their Aura line is excellent. IO personally used a flat latex primer as well. BM can tell you what their best latex primer is.

KC_Jones

A good quality oil based primer is a must. Latex primers on metal can have unintended consequences, I’ve learned the hard way. BM has a nice primer called fresh start, but I’d still talk to them about it. An actual paint store usually has fairly knowledgeable people that can guide you.

All that said, if it was me, I’d probably stick with spray cans of rust oleum. With good prep I think spray gives a much nicer more even finish on metal. I think most times it depends on ones comfort with different materials and equipment. I’ve painted cars with standard paint guns all the way down to water based model paint on my plastic car models. I like spray, some people aren’t comfortable with it.

As always, most of the work is in the prep, spend the time there and the final coat will almost always turn out good.

Erin Holohan Haskell

More tips here: https://heatinghelp.com/blog/how-to-paint-an-old-radiator/

Jamie Hall

I'm with the guys above -- even to the brand of paint and primer. Can't beat it, and the best part is that I also use Aura for the wall paint when I need it -- and can match the colours, of course!

I don't spray indoors -- so most of the time it's brush work. If I could get the puppies outside, I'd spray. Yeah, right...

dean_20

Well I had mine sandblasted to remove all the old paint and then painted them with PlastiKote high temp engine paint (spray cans). That was something like 17 years ago and they still look great.

butcherpete

they are actually designed to be bare, with a clear coat.
every coat of paint takes away from the output.
yeah, i know, everybody paints them.
How many coats of paint on them?
Paint should last years, check for leaks.

jlo1029

Ok, so I did 2/7 with Benjamin Moore Satin Impervo. And have decided the rest will be in a waterborne enamel, as oil paint sucks. But, they look really nice!
Unfortunately, it got cold again.
How long till I can turn the radiators on without ruining the paint / gassing my family?

mikeg2015

Trouble with rustoleum is that even 4 months later you are still smelling the paint every time the radiator heats up and it seems a little soft too. I’m going to try latex in the future. The previous owner used a high quality latex paint and it’s holding up great....except that fact he choose brown as the color. Ugh. Blends in too much.

Tempted paint them satin black and pay some high school art students to paint the raised details a gold color.

rhodebump

get a sprayer if you have a whole bunch