Just stripped cast radiator, what finish?

[David Angel]

Hi all, I have just had an old cast iron rad dipped and it looks perfect as it is in terms of finish! However, I understand that if I leave it like that, it will probably just rust away. Is there any way I can apply something to it to keep the look? I really don't want to paint/spray it if possible.

Thanks

 

[Moneypit]

Well, you are absolutely right about it going rusty if you leave it. I don't know of anything other than a paint finish that you could use, anything such as an oil or wax would not survive the temperatures. Did the place that stripped it not offer anything? You say it was dipped, in my experience gritblasting is the usual process.

If you are determined to keep the metallic finish, how about a clear lacquer, matt or gloss? Car spray paints work well for radiators. It doesn't sound quite right but the metallic paint finishes actually look pretty good.

 

[Moo]

We had ours 'powder-coated' about ten years ago and it's still as good as new. But that's an applied colour, which you don't want. However, it might be worth your while tracking down a local firm to see whether they do a metal effect that you would find acceptable.

 

[ljn]

A few years ago I had a set of school radiators from Lasscos. They were burnished.
basically polished metal. The look was incredibly beautiful as it maintained an old patina but with a slight sheen.
Everyone loved them, they were the feature everyone noticed, above the marble fireplace.
I don't know if they applied some oil or resin or a slight sprayed coat of varnish, but you certainly couldn't tell.

They looked like this: http://www.lassco.co.uk/?id=58&tx_evlasscoproductdetail_pi1[uid]=10593

In another house I had the same rads, but painted no one ever noticed them.

I am definitely going to have my next ones burnished.
If you put a wet thing on them, or leave the window open so it rains in, they would rust, but it would just wipe off.
I wouldn't recommend drying a wet white towel in them.
But without direct provocation, they didn't rust at all.

 

[MdB]

Working link (which wasn't easy to do) and the radiator in question

Yours for only £2300.....

 

[Cloudscape]

£2,300?

 

[Pford75]

Either give it a light spray with WD40 and repeat every 6 months. Alternatively, use a rag with a little baby oil.....this is what we were advised to do on ours by a local reclamation yard and it's worked a treat...no sign of rust after 3 years.

 

[plumbers mate]

HOW MUCH??? :shock:
I will have to get all the radiators for less than that!
I am one of the poor old souls who at present have no central heating (I actually prefer gas fires) but am planning on getting it fitted soon.
There are wooden panels below most of the sash windows so I suspect a battle with heating men over getting decent and suitable radiators fitted.
But at that price?
A friend got the whole caboodle for that price, boiler fitting the system and the radiators...
I'll go get a bottle opener and glass.

 

[Moo]

There are wooden panels below most of the sash windows so I suspect a battle with heating men over getting decent and suitable radiators fitted.

That's the advantage of old cast-iron radiators - a lot of them come with feet, so any wall fixing will only be to prevent them tipping over if someone sits or stands on them in a silly way.
I agree about the prices. If that had been the going rate when we 'did' our house we'd have resigned ourselves to modern rads. But we didn't go to posh places like Lasco. I found ours in a really scruffy yard near Ipswich, brought them back in a hired van, got them sand-blasted and persuaded our plumber to pressure-test them before they were powder-coated.
Can't remember how much it all came to but if we could afford it, it couldn't have been all that much.

 

[Pford75]

I can recommend eBay. The reclamation yards are now either overpriced or dodgy rads in most cases.

I sourced 48 rads on eBay, all to exact specifications. I did have to schlep around the country, but it's still cheaper than buying them from a specialist. Most have just been removed from a house being 'modernised' so have been working recently.

Our plumber even lent us his flushing equipment so we could de-sludge...saved us a fortune in labour