Refinishing baseboard heating units.

[DawnCt1]

The aluminum baseboard heating "thing" in the bathroom needs to be sanded down and refinished. Is there a Rustoleum product that is that specific color that the stock pieces come in? Any suggestions on how to do it?

 

[TheZue]

Might be cheaper to just buy a new one if it isn't too large. We replaced one for around $25. By the time you buy the stuff to get the paint off and buy paint it would be pretty close.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Is the cover removable? If so, the easiest solution by far is to have it "dipped". There is a company here that we have taken furnace grates, even a chair once to be dipped. It removes all traces of old paint, etc. Easy, cheap and quick!! I think we had the items back in 48 hours. Wood products you have to be careful because it can loosen joints, but metal stuff is easy, easy!!

 

[C.Ann]

I agree with the others.. What you are asking "can" be done - but it's messy and very time consuming - with no guarantee that it will come out "right"..

 

[Kathi OD]

We did all the baseboards in our old house, but did both the front and top so it didn't have to match anything. Sand any rust off the metal, put a coat of liquid sand on all the pieces, and then paint the color of your choice. We painted ours the color of the rest of the woodwork trim in each room (mostly white). Turned out great and still looks good (DS lives in our old house, that's how I know how it looks now).

 

[DawnCt1]

Might be cheaper to just buy a new one if it isn't too large. We replaced one for around $25. By the time you buy the stuff to get the paint off and buy paint it would be pretty close.

It isn't very large. Good idea. Does Home Depot have them?

 

[TheZue]

It isn't very large. Good idea. Does Home Depot have them?

That's where we got ours.

 

[carrie6466]

When we redid our kitchen 3 yrs ago, we replaced all the covers with ones we bought at Home Depot. As I recall, the covers were pretty cheap and a lot less work than sanding and repainting them (we had done that in the past, too.)

 

[JR6ooo4]

When we redid our kitchen 3 yrs ago, we replaced all the covers with ones we bought at Home Depot. As I recall, the covers were pretty cheap and a lot less work than sanding and repainting them (we had done that in the past, too.)

No hardware/home store in my area has them. And maybe it was our style or shape and size, but pricing was about $20 a foot!!!!

we ended up adding 300% more insulation on the exterior walls and did not need the heater in there this winter. and we had a pretty cold winter.

Mikeeee

do yours look as bad as ours did?

There is much replacing to done around here...
Mikeeee

 

[carrie6466]

No hardware/home store in my area has them. And maybe it was our style or shape and size, but pricing was about $20 a foot!!!!

we ended up adding 300% more insulation on the exterior walls and did not need the heater in there this winter. and we had a pretty cold winter.

Mikeeee

do yours look as bad as ours did?

There is much replacing to done around here...
Mikeeee

Ours are actually a different type, they didn't have the open vents on them. Ours are just like a metal box and when you don't need the heat you kind of close a strip on top, when you want it you open the strip.

If I remember correctly, it only cost us $150 or so to do 3 walls of a 10'x12' area. The other half of the kitchen, where the appliances are, doesn't have any heaters. We basically replaced the whole thing except for the actual heating pipes. We replaced what was done in the 1970's or so (we're assuming). They looked worse, but I think it's only because ours were white and all the rust and nastiness showed more

 

[DawnCt1]

I was going to replace them, but its a pretty tight fit. Yesterday I rubbed it down with steel wool and squirted a little Goof Off 2 on it. The rust and the paint came right off. I think that I can prep it completely in less than 30 more minutes. I want to get the original color so I hope that Rustoleum makes it. They are the standard color, not quite white, not grayish, etc. I think they will look better sprayed than brushed so before I paint will be a good time to do it.

 

[carrie6466]

I was going to replace them, but its a pretty tight fit. Yesterday I rubbed it down with steel wool and squirted a little Goof Off 2 on it. The rust and the paint came right off. I think that I can prep it completely in less than 30 more minutes. I want to get the original color so I hope that Rustoleum makes it. They are the standard color, not quite white, not grayish, etc. I think they will look better sprayed than brushed so before I paint will be a good time to do it.

The spray did look way better than the brush. Good luck with it. I hope we'll get to see the finished product

 

[denisenh]

ours are like the ones pictured above. we took them to a local auto body shop and they refinished them beautifully.

that was a few years ago and even now i just have to wipe the dust off and they are stiil bright white & glossy.

 

[DawnCt1]

When we redid our kitchen 3 yrs ago, we replaced all the covers with ones we bought at Home Depot. As I recall, the covers were pretty cheap and a lot less work than sanding and repainting them (we had done that in the past, too.)

I went to Home Depot and found the exact size I needed. Slant Fin is actually a company. Before I bought them, I talked to the plumber guy who said, "Easy to replace. Pull the end caps off, pull the front off, remove the screws, drop the new one in place." I talked to the paint guy, who said that Slant Fin has their own color and doesn't allow Rustoleum to duplicate it, but he removed his, dipped them, repainted them. I like the original color so for $25 I bought exactly what I needed. I came home and began to demolish the old rusty one. I got the ends off, the front, and found that mine weren't screwed on, they were nailed on. After about an hour I was able to remove 5, 3 inch nails! Not easy. I had trouble getting leverage. I thought my problems were over. Nope. I couldn't get the supports for the slant fin out without bending the heck out of them. Good, I am home free! NOPE! The bottom flange does not fit past the radiator. Obviously the cover back were installed before the plumber came in. There is not enough clearance to get the old one out. Not enough clearance to get the new one in. I am going to have to call a plumber. Hopefully my friend "Jimmy" won't be to busy, or I will have to call someone else. Bottom line? I wish I painted! In the meantime, DH is spackling. I will paint the bathroom and deal with that next week. I found a brushed nickel light fixture I liked. My brother is coming this weekend so I will have him put it up, although I could probably do it, and just ignore the mess on the floor. I am painting the walls on Friday....I hope.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Ours are actually a different type, they didn't have the open vents on them. Ours are just like a metal box and when you don't need the heat you kind of close a strip on top, when you want it you open the strip.

If I remember correctly, it only cost us $150 or so to do 3 walls of a 10'x12' area. The other half of the kitchen, where the appliances are, doesn't have any heaters. We basically replaced the whole thing except for the actual heating pipes. We replaced what was done in the 1970's or so (we're assuming). They looked worse, but I think it's only because ours were white and all the rust and nastiness showed more

ours are from 1958. they have an inch of paint on them....

ours are like the ones pictured above. we took them to a local auto body shop and they refinished them beautifully.

that was a few years ago and even now i just have to wipe the dust off and they are stiil bright white & glossy.

good idea! they have all the tools. and we have a few as business acquaintances! Now if we could just get them off the wall...

Mikeeee

 

[carrie6466]

ours are like the ones pictured above. we took them to a local auto body shop and they refinished them beautifully.

That's a great idea, I never would have thought of that.

I went to Home Depot and found the exact size I needed. Slant Fin is actually a company. Before I bought them, I talked to the plumber guy who said, "Easy to replace. Pull the end caps off, pull the front off, remove the screws, drop the new one in place." I talked to the paint guy, who said that Slant Fin has their own color and doesn't allow Rustoleum to duplicate it, but he removed his, dipped them, repainted them. I like the original color so for $25 I bought exactly what I needed. I came home and began to demolish the old rusty one. I got the ends off, the front, and found that mine weren't screwed on, they were nailed on. After about an hour I was able to remove 5, 3 inch nails! Not easy. I had trouble getting leverage. I thought my problems were over. Nope. I couldn't get the supports for the slant fin out without bending the heck out of them. Good, I am home free! NOPE! The bottom flange does not fit past the radiator. Obviously the cover back were installed before the plumber came in. There is not enough clearance to get the old one out. Not enough clearance to get the new one in. I am going to have to call a plumber. Hopefully my friend "Jimmy" won't be to busy, or I will have to call someone else. Bottom line? I wish I painted! In the meantime, DH is spackling. I will paint the bathroom and deal with that next week. I found a brushed nickel light fixture I liked. My brother is coming this weekend so I will have him put it up, although I could probably do it, and just ignore the mess on the floor. I am painting the walls on Friday....I hope.

Slant Fin was the name of the company that made ours, too. I'm sorry about all the trouble you had with them, hopefully your friend won't be busy!

ours are from 1958. they have an inch of paint on them....

Our house was built in 1945. When we were redoing the kitchen, half of it was an extension that was added around 1970, the other half was the original kitchen. As we started to pull down the walls and take down the countertop, we found the original metal tiles on the backsplash. They had just covered them up and kept on going. Tons of paint, double layers of sheetrock. End result was our custom cabinets did not meet the wall, there is about a 6 inch space at the end. I never realized until we did that job how much room layers of paint and junk took up.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I went to Home Depot and found the exact size I needed. Slant Fin is actually a company. Before I bought them, I talked to the plumber guy who said, "Easy to replace. Pull the end caps off, pull the front off, remove the screws, drop the new one in place." I talked to the paint guy, who said that Slant Fin has their own color and doesn't allow Rustoleum to duplicate it, but he removed his, dipped them, repainted them. I like the original color so for $25 I bought exactly what I needed. I came home and began to demolish the old rusty one. I got the ends off, the front, and found that mine weren't screwed on, they were nailed on. After about an hour I was able to remove 5, 3 inch nails! Not easy. I had trouble getting leverage. I thought my problems were over. Nope. I couldn't get the supports for the slant fin out without bending the heck out of them. Good, I am home free! NOPE! The bottom flange does not fit past the radiator. Obviously the cover back were installed before the plumber came in. There is not enough clearance to get the old one out. Not enough clearance to get the new one in. I am going to have to call a plumber. Hopefully my friend "Jimmy" won't be to busy, or I will have to call someone else. Bottom line? I wish I painted! In the meantime, DH is spackling. I will paint the bathroom and deal with that next week. I found a brushed nickel light fixture I liked. My brother is coming this weekend so I will have him put it up, although I could probably do it, and just ignore the mess on the floor. I am painting the walls on Friday....I hope.

ours were nailed into a board that was 8 inches tall. they have a back/top piece that is nailed to the wall. then the front piece with the holes hangs on the back/top piece.

we could not get the back piece off without removing the hot water pipe.

if you ahve a rotary tool with a long bit you could grind the nail heads off. Or use a saws-all type tool to cut the nails behind the metal top/back piece.

Mikeeee

 

[DawnCt1]

ours were nailed into a board that was 8 inches tall. they have a back/top piece that is nailed to the wall. then the front piece with the holes hangs on the back/top piece.

we could not get the back piece off without removing the hot water pipe.

if you ahve a rotary tool with a long bit you could grind the nail heads off. Or use a saws-all type tool to cut the nails behind the metal top/back piece.

Mikeeee

I got all of the nails out but there isn't enough clearance to be the back off because of the flange. I will need to remove the hot water pipe. Do I need a plumber for that. (given my current track record ?

 

[DawnCt1]

My disaster!

 

[JR6ooo4]

well, how much do you know about plumbing?
It was much easier to remove and replace the cover without the heat pipe in place.

I forgot that the back metal plate had flanges holding the pipe...

that is not a disaster... this is! it started by looking like my pictures above.
and then we checked the sub floor and it looked like this:

this is the finished demo, after everything rotten was removed.

Mikeeee