When painting - Should radiator be removed?

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Hi All,

looking to do a refresh job painting the full flat and wondering if
- I should get plumber to disconnect the radiator,
- if i should do it myself
- just paint around it without removing them

there is only 3 radiators in the flat and see pictures on how they look like

Many thanks,
 

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Up to you, you can get long reach rollers that will reach a good way down the back of the radiator, to the extent you won't see any missed bits. A deccy wouldn't remove rads.
 
Up to you, you can get long reach rollers that will reach a good way down the back of the radiator, to the extent you won't see any missed bits. A deccy wouldn't remove rads.
long reach roller? did not think about this - but that might paint the inside of the radiator? Will check the size of the mini roller when off to the shop later! :) as space between wall and the radiators are between 1 to 2 cms and up to 3 for the third radiator
 
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No real need, particularly if you are using a similar colour.

Colour will be similar or not much different - but it will annoy me if i see the previous color - finger cross the mini roller will be the right option and much simpler too! :) than taking the radiator out
 
I find it much easier to just remove the radiators and put bags over the pipes to stop paint getting on them. If you can borrow an aquavac it makes draining the water mess free
 
Up to you, you can get long reach rollers that will reach a good way down the back of the radiator, to the extent you won't see any missed bits. A deccy wouldn't remove rads.


I remove rads when I paint a customer's room. The exceptions are ancient rads that have dodgy thermostatic valves or rads that have tails that are too rigid to pull apart and would require a full drain down. In the former case I let the customer decide if they want to pay for a plumber, in the latter, I will drain the whole heating system to remove the rad but will not accept responsibility if the inevitable gunge in the system causes problems elsewhere.

If I were painting the room the same colour again, I probably wouldn't remove the rad if the walls behind were in a decent condition though.

For the record, there are fibreglass long reach mini rad rollers that flex to allow you to get further down the back of the rad as (unlike the metal ones).
 
I find it much easier to just remove the radiators and put bags over the pipes to stop paint getting on them. If you can borrow an aquavac it makes draining the water mess free

Years ago, a plumber taught me to use bin bags to drain rads. They are water tight and will slide up over the crown of the valve once you have loosened it. I have never had enough guts to use those rubber bungs that you ram in the ends of the rad.
 
Tried taking off a rad earlier - couldn't stop the water completely so just lifted it off the hooks and lain it down sideways. If there's enough play in the pipes, you could try that?
 
Would for instance unscrew the base and tilt it work without taking them out completely? ignore my ignorance as pretty newbie on that topic.

or would i need to unscrew the base - water out and then lift them out of their wall attachment?

On another side on the same topic - let's say i get them successfully out of the wall without too much mess on the floor. What are the risk when putting them back?
 
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Easier than taking it off completely, but depends on whether the pipes will let you do it.
 
Tried taking off a rad earlier - couldn't stop the water completely so just lifted it off the hooks and lain it down sideways. If there's enough play in the pipes, you could try that?

I have done that a couple of times when dealing with rads with dodgy valves but I don't like doing it. I once had a connection that started to leak once I recharged the rad, resulting in my having to drain down the system and fit new valves.

If I find a thermostatic valve that weeps, I screw on a 15mm end cap with a rubber washer inside it to prevent any leaks whilst the rad is off.

And on one occasion I removed a rad which had an effed bleed screw was, so I had to refit the rad laying down, let the water in and let the air escape via the opposite valve and then tilt the rad in to its correct orientation.
 
I have done that a couple of times when dealing with rads with dodgy valves but I don't like doing it. I once had a connection that started to leak once I recharged the rad, resulting in my having to drain down the system and fit new valves.

If I find a thermostatic valve that weeps, I screw on a 15mm end cap with a rubber washer inside it to prevent any leaks whilst the rad is off.

And on one occasion I removed a rad which had an effed bleed screw was, so I had to refit the rad laying down, let the water in and let the air escape via the opposite valve and then tilt the rad in to its correct orientation.
Yeah, I'm not that keen, but I couldn't stop the water and I really needed to strip the wall. I have a boiler nan coming out in a couple of weeks, so I'll get him to check it.
 

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