Painting Cast Iron Floor Registers

The grates sit directly on the wall ceiling or floors and in front of a vent.

Painting cast iron floor registers.

You ll need to clean the floor vents before spray painting them. Cast iron can be painted with an oil based metal primer and paint. It can even dress up a unit made of mild steel which is steel with a small. 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.

I went with a benjamin moore interior latex paint that matches my trim. However the wrong kind will have no effect. The proper primer improves cast iron s adhesive qualities. How to get paint off cast iron floor grates.

If you try to paint directly over the top of bare untreated cast iron rampant finish failure will result. I cannot tell from the photos if these are cast iron or just aluminum. Then sand them smooth. Reggio s ultra durable cast iron grilles and registers are our original product offering.

Many of the homes built during the 19th century were. Since i only painted two i washed them by hand in the sink and used an old toothbrush to clean the narrow gaps. Cast iron floor grates and registers harken back to an earlier time in u s. 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.

Almost 40 years later reggio s cast iron grilles still set the standard for craftsmanship. Clean the floor vents. Use these steps to paint cast iron. If the iron is rusty or has been previously painted the rust or paint should be removed before new painting is begun.

Typically made of cast iron the grates attract dust dirt pet hair and a variety of other. Fortunately paint can roll back the years on any operational or non operational hot water or steam cast iron radiator. Oil based painting can be messy and the paint can take several hours to dry. 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. It lets the heat escape from the vent but gently directs the heat so that you don t get a blast of hot air. Electric baseboard radiators on the other hand can theoretically reach temperatures as high as 150 200 ºf 65 95 ºc. Heat register grates are often found in older or historic homes.