Coverup them Radiators

Between starting my new job in January and the big kitchen renovation we've been planning for, we've been seriously lacking in the blog updates recently. Hello again. We have a great plan for the kitchen reno that we look forward to doing over the next few months, and sharing as we go, but until then I thought I'd share my first venture into 'woodworking'. That's right - I'm a woodworker...

Our backup heat is an oil furnace that provides radiant heat through five radiators throughout the house. We love the heat they provide during the winter, but they have been painted a billion times so they aren't easy on the eyes with the peeling paint and rust. Plus all the tight crevices and the peeling paint just make them tremendously difficult to clean well. Here are two of them in all their ugliness:

To solve our unsightly radiator problem, we were faced with two possible solutions: A) Disconnect them all (draining the entire system in the process) and acid wash them so that they return to the natural brass or cast iron finish OR B) Make/buy radiator covers.

After doing a bunch of research, we decided to make radiator covers. (Acid washing them would be cool, but VERY difficult because they are HEAVY.) There were a number of custom cover options that we could have bought for between $150 and $300 a piece, but I wanted to learn how to do some woodworking (and obviously save some money) so I read a tutorial on thisoldhouse.com and decided I'd make them myself. The MDF board was around $30 bucks (one board is enough for two-three covers) and the metal screens were about $25 a pop. (Tip - The sticker price for the metal screens is more at Home Depot, but they will price match Lowes' price PLUS give you an additional 10% off that.) Add in trim and paint and each radiator cover came out to about $62 a piece.

For the project (and for a number of future projects that I've promised to Katie), I bought myself a bunch of saws. Let me tell you, nothing can get your testosterone flowing like owning and using power tools...I got a Dewell router, a Ryobi circular saw, jigsaw, and Hitachi miter saw through a combination of Christmas presents from Katie and I'mawesome presents from myself. Here I am in action with the circular saw: 

Hot, right? I'm pleased to say that in two months of power saw ownership I haven't cut off any limbs or digits. I have, however, sawed off a couple extra tenths of an inch here and there. But hey, I'm a rookie...No one expected Blaine Gabbert to win the Super Bowl his first season, did they? (OK, maybe I was knowing he wouldn't but hoping he would.) The first cover I did was for our "Bedroom USA". Here it is after construction, but before painting: I'm not going to lie - I struggled to make straight cuts on the inside cutouts, and when I installed the trim I had some major gaps between the MDF board and the trim. A bunch of liquid nail goo fixed most of the problems, but if you look at it closely it's far from perfect. The second cover I undertook was a smaller one for the downstairs bathroom. Had a much better time with the cuts on this one, as you can see in the picture below: Perhaps even more challenging than the interior cutouts was cutting a curved edge on the bottom. Tommy from This Old House informed me that to make a curved edge, all you need is the bottom of a glass to make your template. So here I am making that template: After the template was done - I used the Dremel router to cut the curve. My cuts weren't smooth so I had to sand the hell out of the curve to get a nice smooth curve. Although I love him, Tommy conveniently left out this difficult part.

Here are the finished products in both the bedroom and the bathroom. Katie thought she wanted all white at first, but then asked me to leave the screen brass for the bathroom. And I think we're going to stick with that for the remaining covers - I still have two more to make (dining room and the other downstairs bedroom room), but since I'm a master woodworker now, they should be flawless!