Comments on: Roff Home steam radiators refinished and renewed!

By: Home Helper

Home Helper — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:20:50 +0000

I have a rare round steam Ratiator Im looking to sale anyone interested email me at gravediggerstattoo.yahoo.com!

By: The Roff Home

The Roff Home — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:10:26 +0000

Sorry for the delay in replying to this post… The primer was a spray-on primer from the same manufacturer as the silver paint. I’ll look up the silver paint info (Rust-o-leum, I believe) and post it here. I went through a lot of paint to get an even finish and to thoroughly cover the primer, even on inner radiator pipes. I did have some trouble with spray paint beginning to run and drip, but it usually meant I was getting too close to the pipes with the spray paint or that I needed adjust my angle when I was trying to spray inner pipes (I would be aiming for inner pipes, but the paint would start to run down the outermost pipes). I just kept a rag with me and blotted up the excess and they turned out ok. The worst case would be that I would sand off the top of a dried running drop of paint and then do a light recoat to hide the sand marks. My overall goal was to have the radiators look like giant silver ingots standing in each room of the home. I’m pleased with how they turned out.

By: Eva

Eva — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:40:12 +0000

This looks fantastic! What type of primer did you use? Any specific silver spray paint that I should look for to replicate? Did you just spray them yourself, straight out of the can? No problems getting the spray paint to evenly coat the rads? Again – fantastic!!!

By: info

info — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:18:09 +0000

Thanks for the comment on the Roff Home blog about radiator refinishing. I’m glad that the info and the photos are helping in your process. As for me, I knew that some of the radiators were originally painted a brass color, but I’m not a big fan of the gold-looking finish, especially when silver is an option. I agonized over the color choice for weeks before plunging in and just doing it. I was afraid that the color choice would clash with the reds, yellows and browns of the rest of the room. However, what I’ve found is that the silver makes for a nice highlight and contrast against the color scheme of the wood flooring. I did multiple coats of silver spray paint on the radiators, because I wanted them to gleam like solid silver ingots. When the radiators are dusted and wiped down, they do seem to take on that quality.

It’s now been a year since I refinished the radiators on the first floor of the Roff Home, and I’ve never regretted the color decision.

By: karl

karl — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:10:40 +0000

That was inspiring. I’m gonna do exactly what you did. I went back and forth on radiator color probably a million times. But, what you did with the silver is classic and it fits in great with the woodwork, floor. etc. I really needed to see that combination. Problem solved. Thank you

By: info

info — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:52:59 +0000

Thx for the comment! I lived in NYC for ten years and never saw radiators with round pipes like some of the ones in the Roff Home. A couple of historic preservation people have said that they are unique, too. I have no idea how they used to heat this house. I think that there was a gut renovation in 1940 that ripped out nearly all evidence of how they used to heat the home. It’s all detective and guesswork now.

I placed a link to your site on the blog, and I have been looking at it to learn from your experiences as I renovate this home. Thank you for placing your renovation info online! It’s helpful to those of us just getting a start!

By: BayandGableVictorian

BayandGableVictorian — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:21:33 +0000

Your rads look amazing. I also notice how unusual some of them are, which definitely adds visual interest. I would love to have rad heating in my house, but as far as we can tell, the house was first heated with coal stoves, then a gravity heated air system that was then retrofitted to natural gas forced air. I still manage to find the odd lump of coal in the basement…

By: info

info — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:54:04 +0000

Fortunately, there was a sandblaster in Stockland, Illinois, who was very reasonable on price and schedule in getting the radiators sandblasted. So that helped tremendously with the process.

After the ordeal of hauling these beasts across the county this summer to be blasted and then the multilayer paint job, I can assure you that there will be much gnashing of teeth if I have to repeat this at any time within the next decade!

By: Daren

Daren — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 01:53:29 +0000

Hey John, they look great. Love the Xmas tree too! Looks like you did your homework on refurbing these. Me, I moved one across a room with a dolly and decided to wire brush, wipe and paint in place all my upstairs radiators. Now, just 5 years later, they already need touch up. I think you’ll get a lot of years after the prep work you did on these. Bravo, and happy solstice!

By: Landmarks Illinois

Landmarks Illinois — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:13:11 +0000

Dear Roff homeowners:

Terrific job! Bless your heart for being patient enough to do the job right.

Could you pass along the name of the Stockland contractor? We maintain a database of just these sort of specialists on our website.

Sincerely,
Landmarks Illinois