Painting Cast Iron Floor Registers

Oil based painting can be messy and the paint can take several hours to dry.

Painting cast iron floor registers.

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. You ll need to clean the floor vents before spray painting them.

The proper primer improves cast iron s adhesive qualities. The grates sit directly on the wall ceiling or floors and in front of a vent. Electric baseboard radiators on the other hand can theoretically reach temperatures as high as 150 200 ºf 65 95 ºc. Cast iron floor grates and registers harken back to an earlier time in u s.

Heat register grates are often found in older or historic homes. Cast iron can be painted with an oil based metal primer and paint. Since i only painted two i washed them by hand in the sink and used an old toothbrush to clean the narrow gaps. Reggio s ultra durable cast iron grilles and registers are our original product offering.

Then sand them smooth. Spray paint can also be applied to cast iron. I went with a benjamin moore interior latex paint that matches my trim. If you try to paint directly over the top of bare untreated cast iron rampant finish failure will result.

Back in 1978 when mike reggio couldn t find high quality cast iron floor registers for his historic home he decided to make them. Bare cast iron is nonporous and too slick to support long lasting painted finishes. However the wrong kind will have no effect. Paint them with a good rust prevention spray primer then again with the color of your choice.

I cannot tell from the photos if these are cast iron or just aluminum. Many of the homes built during the 19th century were. Fortunately paint can roll back the years on any operational or non operational hot water or steam cast iron radiator. 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. 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. If you plan to paint a lot of floor vents at the same time pop them in the dishwasher to remove dust and grime. 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.