Old house, x-large register vents...

[Locutus]

So I am rehabbing this house (built approx 1930), doing the finishing trim now. I go to put the store bought register vents in the front room, and the original vent "holes" are 3 1/4" out from the baseboard, all of the vent covers available now (that I could find) are only 3 inches deep.... needless to say this leaves 1/4" of exposed duct.

After a trip to all of the local stores, I figure I am going to have to make my own.

Found some clear pine in the scrap bin, some gutter leaf screen in the shed, a can of black spray paint, and got to work.....

(finish looks a little weird in this image, I am guessing it's the flash)

That is with the first application of rubbing oil, will need a couple more applications to match that trimwork.

(please excuse the dirty floor and poor image quality!)

One thing I am not that happy about is that you can see the grey duct work through the screen if you look straight down, so I will probably add some sort of air deflector inside to hide it...

[Old guy]

Or spray paint the inside of the visible duct work black

[Greg O]

That is what we do at the HVAC shop I work for. Use flat black paint and the duct will "disappear". Greg

[George Max]

I'm vaguely familiar with this - on my house it's the cold air returns that are a wood lattice that I've never seen in a store. When I moved in year ago, only 1 of three was still good. And the biggest of the three was missing altogether. Needless to say I built my own.

Good luck with yours. I'd paint the inside black, but I also like the air deflector idea to hide the ductwork anyway.

[SimonLW]

Like the stones sang... "I see a red door and I want to paint it.......

[Locutus]

What is that supposed to mean?

[George Max]

"I see a red door and I want to paint it black"

He wants the OP to paint the ductwork.