Paint your radiator



Painting your radiator is not as daunting as it sounds. If your radiator is already painted, it might be time to paint a fresh layer to keep it looking brand new.

If this is your first time, you are probably wondering “should I sandpaper it?”. The answer is yes, especially if you are dealing with surfaces that are too smooth. Remember, you should use radiator paint when doing this DIY project.

Radiator paint (such as Hammerite Metal Paint) can be used. Metal paints can withstand higher temperatures, and are suitable for the special, immiscible surfaces of metals. Radiator paint also prevents rusting and prevents moisture from destroying the metal.

First let your radiator cool down from its hard work. Make sure that the metal is sufficiently cool to the touch. If you are dealing with bare metal, a radiator prime is required. The radiator primer would stick more effectively than fresh metal paint.

As for the application of the paint, you can use a synthetic brush. If you do not wish to use a synthetic brush, you can use an aerosol spray.

For those hard to reach areas, you can use a radiator roller. Radiator rollers are effective even for dual radiators. If you performed the project correctly, your radiator will shine like new.

Filling holes in your wall

There are some instances that your wall would suffer the indignity of getting holes. Wayward baseballs, misaimed kicks and punches can all take a toll on your beautiful surfaces.

Depending on your financial capacity, you can either pay someone to do the work for you or you can do it yourself. In Europe, you will be spending about 180 euro a day to fix such damages to the wall. That includes labor and materials.

But for less than that, you can fix the problem yourself. What you can do is to first clear the holes in the walls of debris. Next, smoothen the shape of the hole, so that when you repaint, the texture would be level.

Acquire “onecoat” or pre-mixed patching plasters. These patching plasters resemble quick-drying cements, but are sufficiently lighter to be used to repair walls.

With a trowel, apply the patching material to the hole in the wall. Fill the hole completely, until the mixture applied is level with the wall itself.

Let the patching mixture dry a bit before you smoothen it. From the side of the wall, see if there are no unsightly protrusions. If there are, remove them when the patching mixture has stood for about three minutes or more. But do not let the mixture dry too much so that it will not crack when you remove irregularities.

For the shaving part, you can use the trowel. As a general rule of thumb, never press the trowel against the plaster as it might cause a vacuum. When you pull at the trowel, plaster will come with it.