Proper Paint for Baseboard Heaters

Baseboard heaters can be painted along with the rest of a room, or with an accent color to give some character to the border where the walls and floor meet. The challenge is that the heater covers, unlike the rest of the paintable surfaces in your room, are made of metal. They are also subjected to great fluctuations in temperature as they operate. To achieve a strong, long lasting, and good looking paint job, you have to do some special prep and use the proper paint.

Preparation

Any rust must be removed with a scraper, wire brush and sandpaper. Loose or chipped paint should be removed too. Sand smooth the edges were good paint meets gaps where old paint is missing, to hide the transition between the surfaces. All dust and residue must be wiped off or it will interfere with the new paint. Factory finish baseboard heaters should be scuffed with a fine (120 or finer) grade sandpaper, wiped clean and treated with a liquid deglosser before priming.

Primer

It is highly recommended to prime the metal surface area first. This is an all-important step. There are a number of different coating products that can be employed as the primer coating including a selection of newly formulated waterborne acrylics. The role of a primer is twofold: protect the metal substrate while providing a good adhesion for the topcoat.

The paint industry has always relied on an oil-based product to serve as metal covering including a primer base coat. However, concerns about toxic fumes motivated industry chemists to deliver a water-based product that could substitute. The result is a range of products that not only inhibit corrosion, but work as powerful binding agents for topcoat layers as well. These hydrophobic formulated primers can either match or exceed their solvent-based counterparts, so they become the wise – and healthy – choice for baseboard heater cover painting.

Paint

While primers help with adhesion and corrosion inhibition, the topcoat is all about color presentation, durability, dirt build-up resistance and a glossy sheen. Just as with use of a water-based primer, the use of water-based paints has also become quite popular due to their lack of toxic emissions. Furthermore, a high-quality water-based topcoat can last as much as two to four times longer than a similar oil-based paint. Also, water-based paints have been formulated for a decreased drying time versus oil. This allows for the application of a second coat in quicker time, leading to faster completion of the task.

Direct to Metal (DTM) Paint

New products on the market today offer a direct to metal one-step painting process for baseboard heaters. These products serve as both primer and topcoat in one. When requesting a DTM paint, ask for an acrylic-based selection. There are a lot of good acrylic latex primers and one step paints on the market. Explain your project to the clerk, and he can steer you to the appropriate product.

Edward Kimble, professional painter and author of Interior House Painting Blog, contributed to this article.