Awesome - so glad it helped! Thanks for watching and you check out the video on craftsman casing and wall paneling. They are meant to accent the radiators and are pretty easy as well.
@@jasonp3896 I have not noticed any difference and my oil consumption hasn't changed. As long as you have enough airflow for the the convection to happen I think impact is minimal.
It is really not that hard and pretty forgiving. The hardest part would be is your floors slant a little like mine, but you can cut everything to relative lengths. Good luck with the project!
This is awesome. I followed your design except I chose not to add the plywood backer and instead left it open. I moved into a house with a room that had an old radiator that spans parts of two walls for a total of about 16 feet. Came out great. Thank you!
Have you noticed it affecting the heat output from the radiators? I've heard from people in very cold climates that putting on the pre-fab plastic covers blocked the air flow , i.e. heat.
Hi Jay. I leave the original on for two reasons. Well three if you count they are a pain to remove. The first is the old ones act as a support to hook the new ones on too and hold them in place. The most important reason though is that metal back acts as a reflector preventing the heat from being absorbed into the drywall and helps improves the efficiency of the system. Hope that helps.
Thank you! If you have any question just ask. I also have videos on making matching wall panels and casings if you are looking to do that. Good luck on your project!
Just a suggestion when I do my baseboard covers I use flashing in the back of pipes so the sheetrock won’t absorb the heat and it helps to radiate the heat outward
Do you do that in addition to leaving the back of the original radiator in place? I never thought of trying to double that up. No issues with frozen pipes if they are in the same wall. I'm doing my bathroom next and I'd like to try it.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse no I don’t use the original metal back. I make a ledger board that covers the top of the flashing and it also double’s as a place to nail the top of the rad cover to
Got it, I started doing it this way with the back of the radiator left in place because it can be hard to remove for some people. I have another radiator in the upstairs bath where they cut it off to make room for a cabinet. Maybe I'll make another video to follow up showing the alternative option. That for your feedback.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse I think it is a good idea to leave the back metal plate of the original cover in place because that also holds the clip-in supports for the heater pipe and fin assembly. Otherwise you'd need to come up with some other way to keep the heating element in place off the floor and keep the pipe from sagging. My place has several 14-16 foot runs so the supports are especially important.
@@glencunningham5400 Hi Glen, yes leave that in place is my recommendation for a variety of reasons including condensing the heat in the fin air and preventing it from radiating through the drywall.
Thank you for the nice comment! If you have any questions or need some help let me know. There is also a video on how to do matching wall panels if that interests you.
First off, your a Mets fan or a Met for all I know, but that makes your standing with me top notch since I already know you have a high IQ and aptitude to do anything. Something all Mets fans have in common :). Corners are not really hard as almost everything is the same, but there a couple of extra steps. 1. When you install the top plates, Miter them in the corner. It looks nicer than but joining them. 2. To keep your corners looking nice and so they line up perfectly, you need to put some alignment joinery in. This can be a domino, but for the rest of us without one like me, I use two dowels put in with a self centering dowel jig, There are expensive jigs and cheap ones less than $50, but you can also make your own easily. you just need the hole to be in the same spot on both sides. Another option is to use a biscuit. Wen ,makes one that is really cheap. Here is my review of it. ua-cam.com/video/8TmsBYj4Vu0/v-deo.html. Once you do choose which one, go ahead and cut them, but don't glue the joint. This is just to hold them in line cosmetically and by not gluing you leave room for the wood to expand. If you are painting the covers you can use a high stretch caulk to seal the seam if you don't like it, but honestly it will be barely noticeable. 3. The rails and styles are the same as in the video except in the corner. In the corner, you will but the two end styles together to form an L, so make sure you cut one larger my the width of the material so the revealed part on both sides is the same. For example, if you want 4 inch styles at the ends and the material thickness is 3/4 cut one 4 inches and the other at 4.75. When you put they together there will be 4 inches going in both directions from the seem. You can use the alignment joinery trick here as well, but honestly the friction hold works just fine to keep them in place generally. another step you could take is to put a pocket hole on the backside on the corner joint and after it all assembled just put in the screw to pull it tight. just place the pocket hole is a place where the radiator fins won't get in the way so you can fit an angle screw adapter and bit through the slot to get at the screw if you fo this route. This might seem complicated but it really isn't. Of course if you have any questions I'm here to help you with your project. Have a great week and happy building! and GO METS! Ken
Looks great. But I'm wondering, do you think this has any effect on the amount of heat that comes out? The metal covers are warm or hot to the touch, possibly radiating more heat, while wood would insulate more. On the other hand, I suppose the surface area of the outside metal cover is a fraction of the area of all the fins, and most of the heat transfer is from convection, not radiation. Do you notice any difference?
Thanks Glen. To answer your question I have finished two of the three bedroom upstairs in my house with these covers and they are warmer than the one without. I don't think this has to do with the cover but probably more that I sealed up a lot of drafts when I did the renovation, but it makes me beleive the wood covers are not decreasing the amount of heat. My basic understanding of baseboard heat is that it works on convection more than radiation of the heat. When I do the install I leave the metal backer in place. This should help prevent heat from absorbing into the drywall. I could be completely wrong on this so do your own research but this is how I believe the system should work and why I don't notice any decrease in efficiency. Cold air sink sand hot air rises as we all learn in elementary school. Cold air along the floor moves under the bottom slot of the heater where it begins to heat up in the fins and rises exiting out the top slot. This forms an air current where cold air is sucked in along the floor and warm air exits the top. This circulating action is actually what heats the room in this system. If you were to close of one of those slits, the current wouldn't form and the only heat would be radiant and you'd probably see a substantial decrease in efficiency. So in my observations so far, my belief and understanding is that the heating is equivalent as long as you keep that dual slit design and do not impede the motion on the air flow. I'm just a guy with a hammer on the internet, so don't believe anything I say :) If you have any other questions, let me know, I'm happy to help the best I can.
I’m getting ready to try this at home and I’m super psyched! I measured my old ones that look identical to yours and they measure 3 inches. Can I get away with a 3 inch top plate? Feels like 4 would take up a lot of floor space
Everyone is a little different, but you need to make sure the top plate covers the front panel which is 3/4" and still leaves room to not touch the radiator fins. If that doesn't make sense let me know and I can talk you through measuring to make sure you have enough room.
I found a (cheaper) and faster way to make this work. I used the same top width you recommended and instead, used 5inch sheets of shiplap as the face since it’s only .67 inches deep. They’re not nearly as pretty as yours, but it actually came out nice. I mean, anything is better than the metal ones we had before. Thanks for all your help.
@@PadillaKids Sounds great. I made this video to show a basic technique and always hoped people would use it as a jumping off point to make their own designs. So happy you tried it and I'm sure it looks awesome!
This looks totally awesome and it's a great and truly helpful video. Thanks so much for this. I'm just a little queasy about the whole fire safety question. Could you say a bit more about why you are not worried about the wood catching fire or the paint on the wood? Also, would it affect heat efficiency or operation of the radiator if I installed a metal radiator grille or screen without leaving openings at the top and the bottom for the air to flow in and out (i.e. the air would only go through the grille)?
Before I give my answer, I would say if you are really worried confirm with the local fire department ... But baseboard heating with water is old tech and designed to be safe, the water flowing through the baseboards is less than 200 degrees. For comparison paper combusts at 450 degrees. (By the way so will you) These types of heating systems need to be safe with thing like drapes, kids and there toys toys, pets, fabric furniture, etc coming in contact with them. Wood would take several hours at 400-500 degrees to ignite. These are oven temperatures. That said, if you have electric baseboard heat, you likely want to stay away from this. As for efficiency, you need a way for air to come in at the floor and exit the top after passing through the fins, A completely open or metal mesh front would be fine. The key is airflow. Some people think the heat radiates of the the metal, but it actually causes an airflow where cold air on the floor near the radiator heats up and starts to rise. As the hot air rises it is replaced with cooler air, causing a circular convection current heating the room. The paint itself once dried probably has a resistance to somewhere north of 250 degrees. You need to remember the walls touching the same area are painted and the copper pipes with the hottest water pass though the wood, joists and wall cavities to get around the house. The hottest temperatures are the pipes that come right off the boiler. I hope that helps.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse Thanks a lot, yes, this is very helpful. I have some baseboard heaters in a space where I would like to install built-in floor to ceiling bookcases, and I'm trying to find out how best to build around them/integrate them into the design of a "library" wall. From what you're saying that shouldn't be a problem if I leave enough space for the air to circulate. Many thanks, great food for thought!
I'd probably raise the bookshelves up and use a false bottom on it to make sure I had room to service the radiator and clean it. You can also probably post on a heating forum to see what the recommended clearance is for air flow.
What a fantastic video!! Thank you for this. Silly noob question - when you say 1x4, you mean the thickness of the wood (1inch) x the width (4 inches), right? And the length will of course be whatever we need for our heater.
Thanks Padilla. Of course you can use any wood you want if you vary the design. I did this tutorial out of materials you can find at any box store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. The wood is 1x4, but to add extra confusion 1x4 inch wood is actually 3/4” by 3.5 inches. But is the store will be labeled as 1x4, 1x3 etc. even though its dimensions are actually smaller. So take this into account when you measure how thick you need to make your top plate. Also there are no stupid questions here, I made this channel to inspire and help people try new things for the first time. DIY is a fun hobby and you can get nice results if you take your time. If you have any other questions just ask! Also if you are staining I recommend white oak and if you are painting poplar. Both should be easy to find.
If you are using a hardwood that is probably fine. The issue would be more does the wood warp a little without the spacer to hold it straight. maybe put some decorative mesh in the holes to help keep it true.
I did a long one without a wood center support. To help offset the weight, I connected the long piece to the top plate using an L bracket. It’s inside and difficult to see. And if someone looks that deep into my baseboard, I don’t want them in my house 😂
@@PadillaKids Great job. The reality is probably need to worry more about twisting than sagging since it sits on top of the original radiator top. Properly dried hardwood would mitigate that.
Great video, I’m going to attempt your covers. One question… you mentioned early in the video you want to make it easy to remove in case you needed to fix a leak. I will assume the easiest would be to remove the screws you counter sunk at the end. How did you hide your screws, but still be able to access them for removal? I was thinking white caulk? Thank you.
Hi Jedi- easiest way is to just lift them up and off using just the L-brackets to hook them behind the old metal radiator back. In the rom when I put the wood paneling above that blocks that I use small whit trim screws that can be removed. You barely see them in the countersink.
Hi. Do you have a video where the radiators go across two adjoining walls? I would like to see how you would go about making covers with a corner piece. Most of all of our rooms have radiators that run on two walls.
Hi GBBT, I didn't make a video on doing the corner, but it is pretty easy to do. I'd didn't have a corner it that room to use as an example. Here is what you do. (If this doesn't work for you because of the way the radiator is plumbed, email me a picture and I will help you modify the design.) 1. Cut the top plates and miter them at a 45 degree in the corner. To make the miter tight you can use pocket holes, domino, dowels or any joinery you like and wood glue. 2. For the styles that mate up in the corner, cut one 3/4 of an inch wider than the normal style size. So if all the styles are 4", cut one 4.75. These will form a butt joint in the corner. with equal visible dimensions once the cover is installed 3. Assemble the two wall sections 4. Put the one with longer piece of the butt join in first 5. Put the section with the standard style in 6. Screw the top plate down, The pressure fit should hold the angle and look neat at the butt joint. 7. This is optional, but if you are concerned about the fit in the corner you can always use wood glue and clamp it for a few hours at the joint, or even bore a long screw hole on a drill press with a counter sink and use a long wood screw Ikea style. Don't forget to drill pilot holes. If anything is unclear, just let me know and I will talk you through it. Also I made this video about how to to do wall paneling and talk in detail about inner and outer corners. It is the same room as the radiators as well. Some of the techniques are the same, so the video should help if anything is unclear. ua-cam.com/video/5d0Qm8wiejs/v-deo.html Happy New Year!
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse thank you for explaining. Once we get to this project, if I have any questions I will definitely let you know ans thank you for taking the time out to answer in such detail. We live on Long Island so the standard ugly metal floor heat. We bought our home 10 years ago and the covers were rusty and discolored. I told my husband I was going to paint them so I took the lead on that project. I got rust converter and then I painted them with oil based paint in black. It was a nice contrast. Now that we have our son, he is very interested in these covers, as kids touch everything so we plan to make wooden covers for them. Your video was a huge help and I will reference that once we get started. Happy New year. --Maria
@@greatbigbeautifultomorrow113 HI Maria - I'm happy to help. I grew up on on long island so I know the rusty baseboard well. I originally designed them for our son's nursery when we first moved into the house. I was afraid of him cutting himself on the metal ones, plus the wood ones looked nicer :) This video shows them in the nursery once they were done, just to give you another look. If you need any other help, let me know.
Happy New Year! Let me premise this by saying I have no experience with electric heat so here is some info to help you decide if you feel it is same for your home. The ignition temperature of most hardwood is over 400 degrees F. Electric baseboards can get to 200 degrees according the I interweb. By comparison my water based fins get to 160 in the radiator. So it doesn’t seem to be that much of a temp difference compared to ignition temp. I personally would be a little worried about wood movement as wood dries from the heat and then reabsorbs when the heat is off and humid increases. I would recommend checking with the manufacturer of the heating element and see what they say the recommended distance to wood is. Alternatively you might be able to find a high temp composite material to substitute. Again I have no idea on the safety factor with electrical baseboards so contacting the manufacturer is the best advice I can give.
I like wood. So I like this. However, the fins need to be vacuumed once a year or so to remove dust and whatever so the heat can rise through them. How do you handle that?
Personally I use a shop vac with the small brush attachment. It sucks everything out no problem for me. The slits are big enough to fit a regular vacuum wand attachment through as well. General the suction is enough to pull everything out without the need to touch the fins which you should try and avoid anyway. You can also chose to not attach the sections to each other so you can lift them out. If you have any other questions let me know.
In the video, the top piece appears to be very long, perhaps 10-12 ft. I'm finding it difficult to find long dimensions of red oak. Did you join two boards together? Do you buy your wood from a mill? I imagine I could pocket screw together two boards but I don't want the seam... Any suggestions?
Hi Curtis. When I did my first cover I seamed it and I looked for alternatives when I made the second one for the same reason you you stated. I didn't want the seem. There are two options that work. The best is finding a piece long enough. I don't know where isn the world you are located, but here is what you can try. Home Depot has just started carrying some longer pieces of red oak, maple and poplar in the local stores in the Northeast of the US. It is very hit or miss though. Red oak is popular for hardwood floor around here. Try local lumber yards and companies that sell hardwood flooring. The 1x4 inch is a popular size for trim and they may carry it in longer pieces. That is how I found mine. I was able to get a 15 foot board. Option two is to make a joint. You can can make a join almost invisible , especially if you are painting or staining the final piece. Pocket screws are great for a lot of things but I don't think they make the tightest joints. If you can cut it, try a scarf joint, but I used a tongue and groove bit router bit set I had from doing hardwood flooring and did that joint to seam two pieces using wood glue. You'll need to get creative with the clamping. When I did it I just glued cauls with CA glue and painters tape. Once the glue was dry and the wood sanded, you needed to know where to look to find the joint. It was hair thin Try calling around to lumber yards though. You might get lucky. Also not sure if you are tied to red oak, but any hardwood would work. White Oak, Maple, Popler if you are painting might be more readily available. Some are more available regionally. I've heard Alder is nice and abundant on the west coast of the US, but I never see it here. Softwoods work too, but hardwood is needed if you stain in my opinion. Hardwood is more durable, but if you have lighter use, no kids smashing toys into everything, etc. you might not need that extra durability. If you have any other questions let me know. Be safe and good luck on your project, seam or no seam it looks a lot better that the metal and I'm sure you do a great job.
Hi Vacuum mom :). I use the brush attachment. The suction is enough to clean out the fins. If I’m really worried or forget to do it for a while I use compressed air to blow them out. But I’ve never actually needed to do that step. If you have hard wood floor like mine and need to get into the expansion gap use the can seat attachment or wand. Hope that helps.
Sure thing, I just added this to the video description as well. Here is a list of materials used in this build. Top plate 1x4 Styles 1x3 Rails 1x2 1/4 inch plywood for the backing (use a good quality sheet), but you could use a decorative metal as well. If you are not painting are staining instead, get unfinished plywood to match the hardwood you are using. Brackets and screws: amzn.to/3Sl59UP I used red oak, because i like the rustic look of the grain showing through the paint, but poplar would be another good choice. For staining use whatever hardwood you want.
No problem at all. Being able to help people with projects is the reason I run this channel :) the screw for the pocket hole should be 1 1/4 corse thread for 3/4 inch hardwood material. If you have any other questions just ask. I’m here to help!
Question, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and do this in my house... Question, when you put the top on, the old louver was left in place, but at the end of video, it appears you removed the louver and maybe the louver brackets. Is that correct?
I leave the louver in place as both it and the deflector are needed for the heat to work optimally. You just can’t see it since it is hidden just below the top slot. If you want I can send you a picture or post one to instagram for you. If you have any other questions just let me know.
Hi Roberto. Let me know if this answers your question. Because I use hooks to hang the radiator cover over the old metal cover it is essentially floating and free to move with expansion and contraction. With that said though the movement is minimal in most hardwoods ant that width. As long as you do t someone connect the verticals supports to the floor, they will move the little bit across the floor and prevent cracking any of the components. The most important thing is picking a stable piece of wood that will not twist and warp easily. The radiator will go though many temperature changes during the heating cycles. I’ve found red oak to have held up well and have covers more than 4 years old with no issues in the northeastern US where we have lots of seasonal change. Let me know if you have any other questions. I am always happy to help.
Mine dried and cracked here and there this guy looks like he would go ape sh$t on you in a fight nostrils flared shirt caught up exposing belly and he just keeps coming at you he scares me 😢
Sorry I scare you :). Now to answer your question I have never had any cracks but there are reasons your might have.. the first place to check is what kind of wood did you use and where did you get it. If the wood was wet and not properly dried the heating elements will cause the wood the check over time. There is an easy fix though. Use non shrinking wood filler or painters call and re paint them. If you stained them it would really depend on where the cracks were. If you want to share some more of the details. I’d be happy to help you clean them up.
We followed your idea and our baseboards came out super nice! Thank you so much for sharing this video and helping us out.
Awesome - so glad it helped! Thanks for watching and you check out the video on craftsman casing and wall paneling. They are meant to accent the radiators and are pretty easy as well.
Have you guys noticed any loss of heat put out or absorbed in the wood? Is your heat running more often to keep the space warm?
@@jasonp3896 I have not noticed any difference and my oil consumption hasn't changed. As long as you have enough airflow for the the convection to happen I think impact is minimal.
Thank you! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
You are very welcome, please let me know if you have any questions.
Was going to buy custom shaker covers that look EXACTLY like this. I'm a handy guy and this looks TOTALLY doable!
It is really not that hard and pretty forgiving. The hardest part would be is your floors slant a little like mine, but you can cut everything to relative lengths. Good luck with the project!
Thanks so much for making this video, its very useful and informative.
Thank you!
This is awesome. I followed your design except I chose not to add the plywood backer and instead left it open. I moved into a house with a room that had an old radiator that spans parts of two walls for a total of about 16 feet. Came out great. Thank you!
Awesome Zack - If you post a picture I'd love to see it. It is a pretty easy design to modify, glad it worked for you!
Have you noticed it affecting the heat output from the radiators? I've heard from people in very cold climates that putting on the pre-fab plastic covers blocked the air flow , i.e. heat.
Great video. Nice job. Why didn’t you remove the metal radiator covers?
Hi Jay. I leave the original on for two reasons. Well three if you count they are a pain to remove. The first is the old ones act as a support to hook the new ones on too and hold them in place. The most important reason though is that metal back acts as a reflector preventing the heat from being absorbed into the drywall and helps improves the efficiency of the system. Hope that helps.
Awesome job. Thanks for sharing… I am now a big fan…
Thank you so much!
You are amazing. I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out a system to make these. Much appreciated!!!!
Thank you! If you have any question just ask. I also have videos on making matching wall panels and casings if you are looking to do that. Good luck on your project!
Nice job. Sometimes I wish I had an older house to do DIY projects.
New houses can be upgraded as well :). This house was built in 94 so not too old.
Just a suggestion when I do my baseboard covers I use flashing in the back of pipes so the sheetrock won’t absorb the heat and it helps to radiate the heat outward
Do you do that in addition to leaving the back of the original radiator in place? I never thought of trying to double that up. No issues with frozen pipes if they are in the same wall. I'm doing my bathroom next and I'd like to try it.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse no I don’t use the original metal back. I make a ledger board that covers the top of the flashing and it also double’s as a place to nail the top of the rad cover to
Got it, I started doing it this way with the back of the radiator left in place because it can be hard to remove for some people. I have another radiator in the upstairs bath where they cut it off to make room for a cabinet. Maybe I'll make another video to follow up showing the alternative option. That for your feedback.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse I think it is a good idea to leave the back metal plate of the original cover in place because that also holds the clip-in supports for the heater pipe and fin assembly. Otherwise you'd need to come up with some other way to keep the heating element in place off the floor and keep the pipe from sagging. My place has several 14-16 foot runs so the supports are especially important.
@@glencunningham5400 Hi Glen, yes leave that in place is my recommendation for a variety of reasons including condensing the heat in the fin air and preventing it from radiating through the drywall.
This is a really awesome video. Thank you.
Thank you for the nice comment! If you have any questions or need some help let me know. There is also a video on how to do matching wall panels if that interests you.
Hi great video! How do you handle corners?
First off, your a Mets fan or a Met for all I know, but that makes your standing with me top notch since I already know you have a high IQ and aptitude to do anything. Something all Mets fans have in common :). Corners are not really hard as almost everything is the same, but there a couple of extra steps.
1. When you install the top plates, Miter them in the corner. It looks nicer than but joining them.
2. To keep your corners looking nice and so they line up perfectly, you need to put some alignment joinery in. This can be a domino, but for the rest of us without one like me, I use two dowels put in with a self centering dowel jig, There are expensive jigs and cheap ones less than $50, but you can also make your own easily. you just need the hole to be in the same spot on both sides. Another option is to use a biscuit. Wen ,makes one that is really cheap. Here is my review of it. ua-cam.com/video/8TmsBYj4Vu0/v-deo.html. Once you do choose which one, go ahead and cut them, but don't glue the joint. This is just to hold them in line cosmetically and by not gluing you leave room for the wood to expand. If you are painting the covers you can use a high stretch caulk to seal the seam if you don't like it, but honestly it will be barely noticeable.
3. The rails and styles are the same as in the video except in the corner. In the corner, you will but the two end styles together to form an L, so make sure you cut one larger my the width of the material so the revealed part on both sides is the same. For example, if you want 4 inch styles at the ends and the material thickness is 3/4 cut one 4 inches and the other at 4.75. When you put they together there will be 4 inches going in both directions from the seem. You can use the alignment joinery trick here as well, but honestly the friction hold works just fine to keep them in place generally. another step you could take is to put a pocket hole on the backside on the corner joint and after it all assembled just put in the screw to pull it tight. just place the pocket hole is a place where the radiator fins won't get in the way so you can fit an angle screw adapter and bit through the slot to get at the screw if you fo this route.
This might seem complicated but it really isn't. Of course if you have any questions I'm here to help you with your project.
Have a great week and happy building! and GO METS!
Ken
Looks great. But I'm wondering, do you think this has any effect on the amount of heat that comes out? The metal covers are warm or hot to the touch, possibly radiating more heat, while wood would insulate more. On the other hand, I suppose the surface area of the outside metal cover is a fraction of the area of all the fins, and most of the heat transfer is from convection, not radiation. Do you notice any difference?
Thanks Glen. To answer your question I have finished two of the three bedroom upstairs in my house with these covers and they are warmer than the one without. I don't think this has to do with the cover but probably more that I sealed up a lot of drafts when I did the renovation, but it makes me beleive the wood covers are not decreasing the amount of heat.
My basic understanding of baseboard heat is that it works on convection more than radiation of the heat. When I do the install I leave the metal backer in place. This should help prevent heat from absorbing into the drywall. I could be completely wrong on this so do your own research but this is how I believe the system should work and why I don't notice any decrease in efficiency. Cold air sink sand hot air rises as we all learn in elementary school. Cold air along the floor moves under the bottom slot of the heater where it begins to heat up in the fins and rises exiting out the top slot. This forms an air current where cold air is sucked in along the floor and warm air exits the top. This circulating action is actually what heats the room in this system.
If you were to close of one of those slits, the current wouldn't form and the only heat would be radiant and you'd probably see a substantial decrease in efficiency. So in my observations so far, my belief and understanding is that the heating is equivalent as long as you keep that dual slit design and do not impede the motion on the air flow.
I'm just a guy with a hammer on the internet, so don't believe anything I say :)
If you have any other questions, let me know, I'm happy to help the best I can.
I’m getting ready to try this at home and I’m super psyched! I measured my old ones that look identical to yours and they measure 3 inches. Can I get away with a 3 inch top plate? Feels like 4 would take up a lot of floor space
Everyone is a little different, but you need to make sure the top plate covers the front panel which is 3/4" and still leaves room to not touch the radiator fins. If that doesn't make sense let me know and I can talk you through measuring to make sure you have enough room.
I found a (cheaper) and faster way to make this work. I used the same top width you recommended and instead, used 5inch sheets of shiplap as the face since it’s only .67 inches deep. They’re not nearly as pretty as yours, but it actually came out nice. I mean, anything is better than the metal ones we had before. Thanks for all your help.
@@PadillaKids Sounds great. I made this video to show a basic technique and always hoped people would use it as a jumping off point to make their own designs. So happy you tried it and I'm sure it looks awesome!
This looks totally awesome and it's a great and truly helpful video. Thanks so much for this. I'm just a little queasy about the whole fire safety question. Could you say a bit more about why you are not worried about the wood catching fire or the paint on the wood? Also, would it affect heat efficiency or operation of the radiator if I installed a metal radiator grille or screen without leaving openings at the top and the bottom for the air to flow in and out (i.e. the air would only go through the grille)?
Before I give my answer, I would say if you are really worried confirm with the local fire department ... But baseboard heating with water is old tech and designed to be safe, the water flowing through the baseboards is less than 200 degrees. For comparison paper combusts at 450 degrees. (By the way so will you) These types of heating systems need to be safe with thing like drapes, kids and there toys toys, pets, fabric furniture, etc coming in contact with them. Wood would take several hours at 400-500 degrees to ignite. These are oven temperatures. That said, if you have electric baseboard heat, you likely want to stay away from this. As for efficiency, you need a way for air to come in at the floor and exit the top after passing through the fins, A completely open or metal mesh front would be fine. The key is airflow. Some people think the heat radiates of the the metal, but it actually causes an airflow where cold air on the floor near the radiator heats up and starts to rise. As the hot air rises it is replaced with cooler air, causing a circular convection current heating the room. The paint itself once dried probably has a resistance to somewhere north of 250 degrees. You need to remember the walls touching the same area are painted and the copper pipes with the hottest water pass though the wood, joists and wall cavities to get around the house. The hottest temperatures are the pipes that come right off the boiler. I hope that helps.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse Thanks a lot, yes, this is very helpful. I have some baseboard heaters in a space where I would like to install built-in floor to ceiling bookcases, and I'm trying to find out how best to build around them/integrate them into the design of a "library" wall. From what you're saying that shouldn't be a problem if I leave enough space for the air to circulate. Many thanks, great food for thought!
I'd probably raise the bookshelves up and use a false bottom on it to make sure I had room to service the radiator and clean it. You can also probably post on a heating forum to see what the recommended clearance is for air flow.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse Awesome, thanks for these great ideas!
you are very welcome!
thanks a lot! I replicated your build and it came out amazing!
So great to hear that!
That looks incredibly beautiful!
Thank you! How is the renovating going down south?
What a fantastic video!! Thank you for this. Silly noob question - when you say 1x4, you mean the thickness of the wood (1inch) x the width (4 inches), right? And the length will of course be whatever we need for our heater.
Thanks Padilla. Of course you can use any wood you want if you vary the design. I did this tutorial out of materials you can find at any box store like Lowe’s or Home Depot. The wood is 1x4, but to add extra confusion 1x4 inch wood is actually 3/4” by 3.5 inches. But is the store will be labeled as 1x4, 1x3 etc. even though its dimensions are actually smaller. So take this into account when you measure how thick you need to make your top plate.
Also there are no stupid questions here, I made this channel to inspire and help people try new things for the first time. DIY is a fun hobby and you can get nice results if you take your time. If you have any other questions just ask!
Also if you are staining I recommend white oak and if you are painting poplar. Both should be easy to find.
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse Cant wait to give this a try! Thanks again!
Please let me know how it comes out and send me a photo on instagram. I love to see what everyone creates!
How long could you have the cover before you have to add the center support? Would you need a leg in the middle if you baseboard heater is 5 feet?
If you are using a hardwood that is probably fine. The issue would be more does the wood warp a little without the spacer to hold it straight. maybe put some decorative mesh in the holes to help keep it true.
I did a long one without a wood center support. To help offset the weight, I connected the long piece to the top plate using an L bracket. It’s inside and difficult to see. And if someone looks that deep into my baseboard, I don’t want them in my house 😂
@@PadillaKids Great job. The reality is probably need to worry more about twisting than sagging since it sits on top of the original radiator top. Properly dried hardwood would mitigate that.
Great video, I’m going to attempt your covers. One question… you mentioned early in the video you want to make it easy to remove in case you needed to fix a leak. I will assume the easiest would be to remove the screws you counter sunk at the end. How did you hide your screws, but still be able to access them for removal? I was thinking white caulk? Thank you.
Hi Jedi- easiest way is to just lift them up and off using just the L-brackets to hook them behind the old metal radiator back. In the rom when I put the wood paneling above that blocks that I use small whit trim screws that can be removed. You barely see them in the countersink.
Looks great 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Hi. Do you have a video where the radiators go across two adjoining walls? I would like to see how you would go about making covers with a corner piece. Most of all of our rooms have radiators that run on two walls.
Hi GBBT, I didn't make a video on doing the corner, but it is pretty easy to do. I'd didn't have a corner it that room to use as an example.
Here is what you do. (If this doesn't work for you because of the way the radiator is plumbed, email me a picture and I will help you modify the design.)
1. Cut the top plates and miter them at a 45 degree in the corner. To make the miter tight you can use pocket holes, domino, dowels or any joinery you like and wood glue.
2. For the styles that mate up in the corner, cut one 3/4 of an inch wider than the normal style size. So if all the styles are 4", cut one 4.75. These will form a butt joint in the corner. with equal visible dimensions once the cover is installed
3. Assemble the two wall sections
4. Put the one with longer piece of the butt join in first
5. Put the section with the standard style in
6. Screw the top plate down, The pressure fit should hold the angle and look neat at the butt joint.
7. This is optional, but if you are concerned about the fit in the corner you can always use wood glue and clamp it for a few hours at the joint, or even bore a long screw hole on a drill press with a counter sink and use a long wood screw Ikea style. Don't forget to drill pilot holes.
If anything is unclear, just let me know and I will talk you through it.
Also I made this video about how to to do wall paneling and talk in detail about inner and outer corners. It is the same room as the radiators as well. Some of the techniques are the same, so the video should help if anything is unclear.
ua-cam.com/video/5d0Qm8wiejs/v-deo.html
Happy New Year!
@@SoWeBoughtaHouse thank you for explaining. Once we get to this project, if I have any questions I will definitely let you know ans thank you for taking the time out to answer in such detail. We live on Long Island so the standard ugly metal floor heat. We bought our home 10 years ago and the covers were rusty and discolored. I told my husband I was going to paint them so I took the lead on that project. I got rust converter and then I painted them with oil based paint in black. It was a nice contrast. Now that we have our son, he is very interested in these covers, as kids touch everything so we plan to make wooden covers for them. Your video was a huge help and I will reference that once we get started. Happy New year. --Maria
@@greatbigbeautifultomorrow113
HI Maria - I'm happy to help.
I grew up on on long island so I know the rusty baseboard well. I originally designed them for our son's nursery when we first moved into the house. I was afraid of him cutting himself on the metal ones, plus the wood ones looked nicer :)
This video shows them in the nursery once they were done, just to give you another look. If you need any other help, let me know.
Can this also be done with electic baseboard heaters also? Use flashing behind each board? Will i need a high temp paint?
Happy New Year! Let me premise this by saying I have no experience with electric heat so here is some info to help you decide if you feel it is same for your home. The ignition temperature of most hardwood is over 400 degrees F. Electric baseboards can get to 200 degrees according the I interweb. By comparison my water based fins get to 160 in the radiator. So it doesn’t seem to be that much of a temp difference compared to ignition temp. I personally would be a little worried about wood movement as wood dries from the heat and then reabsorbs when the heat is off and humid increases.
I would recommend checking with the manufacturer of the heating element and see what they say the recommended distance to wood is. Alternatively you might be able to find a high temp composite material to substitute.
Again I have no idea on the safety factor with electrical baseboards so contacting the manufacturer is the best advice I can give.
I like wood. So I like this. However, the fins need to be vacuumed once a year or so to remove dust and whatever so the heat can rise through them. How do you handle that?
Personally I use a shop vac with the small brush attachment. It sucks everything out no problem for me. The slits are big enough to fit a regular vacuum wand attachment through as well. General the suction is enough to pull everything out without the need to touch the fins which you should try and avoid anyway. You can also chose to not attach the sections to each other so you can lift them out. If you have any other questions let me know.
In the video, the top piece appears to be very long, perhaps 10-12 ft. I'm finding it difficult to find long dimensions of red oak.
Did you join two boards together? Do you buy your wood from a mill?
I imagine I could pocket screw together two boards but I don't want the seam...
Any suggestions?
Hi Curtis.
When I did my first cover I seamed it and I looked for alternatives when I made the second one for the same reason you you stated. I didn't want the seem.
There are two options that work. The best is finding a piece long enough. I don't know where isn the world you are located, but here is what you can try. Home Depot has just started carrying some longer pieces of red oak, maple and poplar in the local stores in the Northeast of the US. It is very hit or miss though. Red oak is popular for hardwood floor around here. Try local lumber yards and companies that sell hardwood flooring. The 1x4 inch is a popular size for trim and they may carry it in longer pieces. That is how I found mine. I was able to get a 15 foot board.
Option two is to make a joint. You can can make a join almost invisible , especially if you are painting or staining the final piece. Pocket screws are great for a lot of things but I don't think they make the tightest joints. If you can cut it, try a scarf joint, but I used a tongue and groove bit router bit set I had from doing hardwood flooring and did that joint to seam two pieces using wood glue. You'll need to get creative with the clamping. When I did it I just glued cauls with CA glue and painters tape. Once the glue was dry and the wood sanded, you needed to know where to look to find the joint. It was hair thin
Try calling around to lumber yards though. You might get lucky. Also not sure if you are tied to red oak, but any hardwood would work. White Oak, Maple, Popler if you are painting might be more readily available. Some are more available regionally. I've heard Alder is nice and abundant on the west coast of the US, but I never see it here. Softwoods work too, but hardwood is needed if you stain in my opinion. Hardwood is more durable, but if you have lighter use, no kids smashing toys into everything, etc. you might not need that extra durability.
If you have any other questions let me know. Be safe and good luck on your project, seam or no seam it looks a lot better that the metal and I'm sure you do a great job.
Hi! Ma with vacuum here. How are we cleaning inside these lovely covers?
Hi Vacuum mom :). I use the brush attachment. The suction is enough to clean out the fins. If I’m really worried or forget to do it for a while I use compressed air to blow them out. But I’ve never actually needed to do that step. If you have hard wood floor like mine and need to get into the expansion gap use the can seat attachment or wand. Hope that helps.
@SoWeBoughtaHouse thanks for the tips! I'm looking to put something nice over my heat next week! I'm showing this to the powers that build tomorrow!
Good luck and if you have any other questions let me know.
Do you have a list of materials you used by chance?
Sure thing, I just added this to the video description as well.
Here is a list of materials used in this build.
Top plate 1x4
Styles 1x3
Rails 1x2
1/4 inch plywood for the backing (use a good quality sheet), but you could use a decorative metal as well. If you are not painting are staining instead, get unfinished plywood to match the hardwood you are using.
Brackets and screws: amzn.to/3Sl59UP
I used red oak, because i like the rustic look of the grain showing through the paint, but poplar would be another good choice. For staining use whatever hardwood you want.
Thank you so much!@@SoWeBoughtaHouse
you are welcome!@@birgitmartino9633
My last question and I’ll leave you alone…when using the pocket hole screws I’m assuming 1 1/2” screw is best?
No problem at all. Being able to help people with projects is the reason I run this channel :) the screw for the pocket hole should be 1 1/4 corse thread for 3/4 inch hardwood material. If you have any other questions just ask. I’m here to help!
Question, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and do this in my house...
Question, when you put the top on, the old louver was left in place, but at the end of video, it appears you removed the louver and maybe the louver brackets.
Is that correct?
I leave the louver in place as both it and the deflector are needed for the heat to work optimally. You just can’t see it since it is hidden just below the top slot. If you want I can send you a picture or post one to instagram for you. If you have any other questions just let me know.
Did you find the wood slipping during the winter? Just because wood expands and contracts with temp changes. Probably why you used red oak.
Hi Roberto. Let me know if this answers your question. Because I use hooks to hang the radiator cover over the old metal cover it is essentially floating and free to move with expansion and contraction. With that said though the movement is minimal in most hardwoods ant that width. As long as you do t someone connect the verticals supports to the floor, they will move the little bit across the floor and prevent cracking any of the components. The most important thing is picking a stable piece of wood that will not twist and warp easily. The radiator will go though many temperature changes during the heating cycles. I’ve found red oak to have held up well and have covers more than 4 years old with no issues in the northeastern US where we have lots of seasonal change. Let me know if you have any other questions. I am always happy to help.
Mine dried and cracked here and there this guy looks like he would go ape sh$t on you in a fight nostrils flared shirt caught up exposing belly and he just keeps coming at you he scares me 😢
Sorry I scare you :). Now to answer your question I have never had any cracks but there are reasons your might have.. the first place to check is what kind of wood did you use and where did you get it. If the wood was wet and not properly dried the heating elements will cause the wood the check over time. There is an easy fix though. Use non shrinking wood filler or painters call and re paint them. If you stained them it would really depend on where the cracks were. If you want to share some more of the details. I’d be happy to help you clean them up.