Painting Cast Iron Floor Registers

However the wrong kind will have no effect.

Painting cast iron floor registers.

Paint them with a good rust prevention spray primer then again with the color of your choice. Many of the homes built during the 19th century were. It lets the heat escape from the vent but gently directs the heat so that you don t get a blast of hot air. Cast iron floor grates and registers harken back to an earlier time in u s.

Fortunately paint can roll back the years on any operational or non operational hot water or steam cast iron radiator. Bare cast iron is nonporous and too slick to support long lasting painted finishes. Back in 1978 when mike reggio couldn t find high quality cast iron floor registers for his historic home he decided to make them. How to get paint off cast iron floor grates.

Typically made of cast iron the grates attract dust dirt pet hair and a variety of other. I went with a benjamin moore interior latex paint that matches my trim. It can even dress up a unit made of mild steel which is steel with a small. Electric baseboard radiators on the other hand can theoretically reach temperatures as high as 150 200 ºf 65 95 ºc.

Spray paint can also be applied to cast iron. Oil based painting can be messy and the paint can take several hours to dry. If you try to paint directly over the top of bare untreated cast iron rampant finish failure will result. The grates sit directly on the wall ceiling or floors and in front of a vent.

Heat register grates are often found in older or historic homes. Pretty much any paint will work with this kind of heating system water and oil based paints work equally well over oil based clean metal primer. Then sand them smooth. Clean the floor vents.

Reggio s ultra durable cast iron grilles and registers are our original product offering. If you plan to paint a lot of floor vents at the same time pop them in the dishwasher to remove dust and grime. I cannot tell from the photos if these are cast iron or just aluminum. The proper primer improves cast iron s adhesive qualities.

You can either strip them with a commercial stripper or with a drill with a wire brush attachment which will remove most of the heavy layers and loose paint. Since i only painted two i washed them by hand in the sink and used an old toothbrush to clean the narrow gaps. You ll need to clean the floor vents before spray painting them. Almost 40 years later reggio s cast iron grilles still set the standard for craftsmanship.