There’s nothing worse than finding out you may have a broken radiator, especially at this time of year where you don’t know what the weather will be like one day from the next. If you need to replace a musty old white radiator for the likes of the living room or kitchen with a new one and you want it to look the part, here are some tips and tricks to help avoid making mistakes when buying a new white radiator.
Don’t go for just a primer
My first tip is the kind of thing that will have you kicking yourself for making a silly mistake. If you’ve ever done any DIY work at home, you’ll know about using primer on the likes of your skirting board or window frames. In the vast majority of cases, it’ll be a white coloured primer which then helps white paint look better after a few coats are on. This isn’t the same with radiators.
Some radiator brands will give you the option of going for just primer on the radiator. With the radiators being bare metal, and usually painted over, if you think choosing primer is going to save a few quid, you should know that these primers are usually black or dark grey and won’t always be white. Don’t confuse yourself into thinking primer = white, and always ask the shop you’re buying it from what colour they use for theirs.
Don’t paint it yourself
Speaking of colour, don’t be misled into thinking that picking a radiator with a primer on it means you can go ahead and stick a few layers of white paint on it yourself. Radiators need a good quality emulsion applied or else you’re going to end up with bubbles that lead to splits and chips all over the place.
Most radiator brands will also spray the paint on for a smoother finish, so if you’re tempted to go at yours with a paintbrush, be forewarned you will almost definitely end up with visible brush strokes.
Don’t mismatch everything
People tend to forget that for a radiator to work efficiently, the whole thing is reliant on good valves at either end. If you’re going to replace an old radiator that has seen better days, ask yourself if you think some shiny new valves are needed too.
I always tell people who have the small-cap valves to get them replaced with thermostatic valves at the same time as the radiator. That way it helps get the radiator working perfectly and you can adjust the valve to get the temperature just how you like it.
Don’t take the brackets off the wall
If you have your heart set on doing the replacement yourself without professional help, keep the original brackets screwed into the wall. When buying similarly sized radiators, you’ll tend to find that they can latch on to existing brackets just as well.
When your new radiator gets delivered, have a quick check to see if it will fit. It’s just a simple step to see if you don’t need to drill into your wall and potentially make a few nicks in the plaster in the process.
Get a good deal on a white radiator today!
For a great deal on white radiators, I recommend checking out https://www.traderadiators.com/radiators/white-designer-radiators. They’re a Glasgow based online-only radiator store. They do some cracking deals because they don’t have any physical shops, which means lower overheads and more savings passed back to the customer.
Add to that the fact they do free next working day delivery on a lot of their products, and you’re on to a winner.