Temporary removal of radiators

[aaronfude]

Hi,

I'd lake to paint behind my old-fashioned (hot water) radiators. It is easy/safe to remove them and then put them back? What should I be aware of?

Many thanks in advance!

Aaron Fude

[m Ransley]

No its not easy the fittings are rusted , it is realy not a good idea to do this to make painting easy, first you need to drain the boiler, then refill and bleed the system, then get it fully hot for maybe 24 hrs to boil- cook out the oxygen in the water, or over the summer alot of rust will occur, and maybe in fall,you will have leaks when you turn the system on.

[aaronfude]

Thank you.

(So any ideas on painting behind a radiator?)

Thanks again,

Aaron Fude

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Put radiator covers in from and you won't see that the paint is faded. Agree with the other poster, do not remove them.

Maybe one of those pad painters on a stick?

[m Ransley]

There are mini rollers 1" thick

[pipedown]

You've assumed the radiators have two pipes and the heating system is closed loop like most modern baseboard heating systems.

If the boiler were for a steam system either one pipe or two pipes but open loop (not pressurized, open to atmosphere) then the radiators would basically be empty when not in use and thus may be removed.

Not knowing what kind of radiators the OP has I can't say it can be done but the possibility exists. I wouldn't really recommend it because those things can be heavy and the fittings are often already caked with paint or rust as to make reassembly difficult.

As for painting behind, get the small foam paint rollers. the ones with 1" diameter should fit in most cases. You can mask the radiator itself with that wide brown paper often used to protect floors (paint department)

[RicodJour]

Like Pipedown said, use the long-handled mini-roller frame.

the radiator is unnecessary unless the wall is damaged.

R

[RicodJour]

Like Pipedown said, use the long-handled mini-roller frame.

the radiator is unnecessary unless the wall is damaged.

R

[Phil Munro]

This requires some ability with plumbing. In my case, I have steam two-pipe radiators, and I am removing wall paper from behind radiators to remove, baseboard wood to strip and stain, and then stripping the old paint from the radiators and repainting them. Our radiators are cast iron, of course. I have taken to using Rustoleum for the radiators, and find that to work very nicely.

I REMOVE the radiators, although the original return traps sometimes need to be replaced because the threads like to strip. Valves have already been replaced many years ago.

If your plumbing connections are good, and if you have appropriate wrenches and ability, you should REMOVE the radiators. If on the other hand, you are just trying to paint, AND IF you can protect the radiators and reach the area you want to paint, just do that.

Maybe this gives you some ideas > Hi,

[mm]

We had steam heat in one of the dorms I lived in in college. We'd just acquired it from George Williams college, so over winter vacation, they wanted to do maintenance or something. They took out all the radiators, did something, then put them back, but in one room they didn't put it back. When the kid got back, his warddrobe walls were swollen to 3 times their normal thickness and it couldn't be opened. The desk and dresser drawers couldn't be opened. Eventually (that day?) everything had to be destroyed so he could get his things out.

[Shirley ann]

Can you paint the area by spray paint in a can ?

How about those foam pads that have a handle on them? We use these quite often as some of them are cut for small places.

shirleyann