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August 6, 2008
Painting the Heat Pipe
Is special paint needed to paint the heat pipe that runs from floor to through to the ceiling?
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Oh, man, a real sore spot here. Curious to see what other responses you get. Here's what I have learned since being snookered twice by contractors on this point:
1. Only use heat resistent paint. Don't let anyone tell you it comes in all colors. It usually comes in white or metallic colored spray. Benjamin Moore cannot match your wall with heat resistant paint (unless your wall is pure white). Both previous contractors told me they were matching the wall color with heat resistant paint. Turns out to have been total BS. Started flaking in a matter of weeks after the heat went on.
2. Paint in the warm weather. The paint needs to cure at least 2 weeks before the heat goes on.
Someone with a good experience going another route may correct me here, but I would stick to these rules and accept no substitutes. @$#%*&%@! (sorry, like I said, sore subject).
Posted by: slopefarm at August 6, 2008 3:20 PM
I had mine painted last summer by a general contractor that did a gut renovation of my APT.
I expected him do use heat resistant paint as we have steam heat. According to him if done properly, there was no need in heat resistant paint.
Doing it properly entailed, chemically stripping old paint completely, with some light sanding (be careful they are old pipes and will not stand much abuse) he then painted it with a layer of oil based primer. and then painted it with regular wall paint.
This has held up nicely through 2 heating seasons so far without showing any sign of deterioration. (your results may vary)
Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 3:47 PM
I had mine painted in summer of 2006 by a general contractor that did a gut renovation of my APT.
I expected him do use heat resistant paint as we have steam heat. According to him if done properly, there was no need in heat resistant paint.
Doing it properly entailed, chemically stripping old paint completely, with some light sanding (be careful they are old pipes and will not stand much abuse) he then painted it with a layer of oil based primer. and then painted it with regular wall paint.
This has held up nicely through 2 heating seasons so far without showing any sign of deterioration. (your results may vary)
Posted by: Gosha at August 6, 2008 3:49 PM
A quick Googling "painting radiators" suggests that any enamel paint is ok, since the temp is at max 210. It's the primer coat that determines the paint job. You can, however get "high heat enamels" but looking at the specs, they'll say 350 upwards, way beyond a steam system's temp.
Or you could try brake rotor paint (900-1200 deg):
http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product?storeId=10101&storeId=10101&Pr=p_Product.CATENTRY_ID%3A2000768&AID=10273849&AID=10273849&AID=10273849&AID=10273849&productId=2000768&PID=1561714%3FstoreId%3D10101&PID=1561714&PID=1561714%3FstoreId%3D10101&PID=1561714&langId=-1&langId=-1&langId=-1&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&catalogId=10101&catalogId=10101
Posted by: cmu at August 6, 2008 3:53 PM
PS: the only radiator we got painted was done in white normal enamel paint, and it's been 5 years. I don't remember them doing any stripping, just primer and paint.
Posted by: cmu at August 6, 2008 3:56 PM
I used plain old BMoore latex paint 3 years ago for my risers and have not had any flaking. I did sand and prime them before hand though.
Posted by: DeLepp at August 6, 2008 4:27 PM
I lived in an 1890's brownstone and the landlady kept painting the pipes and radiators silver. Why I don't know?
Posted by: madamlee at August 6, 2008 4:37 PM
Isn't prepping the surface the critical task in all painting projects? Our hot water risers were thoroughly scraped and sanded, then painted with latex semi-gloss. That was 7 years ago. They are holding up perfectly. Btw, we painted the rads in most of the rooms of our house matte black (but white in the bathrooms)using heat resitant radiator paint. This was at the suggestion of a friend who had researched Victorian colors. It was a leap of faith but we love the look.
Posted by: NeoGrec at August 6, 2008 5:20 PM
I've got steam heat here and primed/painted the living room riser with plain Benjamin Moore. That was six years ago. No sign of damage on the pipe.
Posted by: Steve at August 6, 2008 8:21 PM
I've used Benjamin Moore latex on my risers (hot water heat) for 25 years with no problem. I use gold metalic on the radiators because I like the look.
Posted by: jfss at August 6, 2008 10:19 PM
Use High Heat paint, usually it can wisthstand temps up to 1200 F
Posted by: Bklyn1 at August 7, 2008 10:58 AM
Def. use high heat paint. Then you can paint what you want over it. Having said that, enamel also seems to work fine.
Posted by: Bolder at August 9, 2008 1:29 PM
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