Not permanent - I just want to remove this radiator so that I can paint this feature wall.

Any ideas how I take this off? I know its hooked on somehow with two metal bars at the back, but I've never done this before so I don't know how to disconnect the two pipes:





On the subject of painting, do i need to do anything to the wall first or can I whack Dulux straight on top of the existing yellow paint? I'm going for a Matt Urban Grey colour.

Cheers guys.

there's just the weight of the radiator holding it down on the brackets at the back

you need to turn both taps off

a tray under each tap to collect the water running out

unscrew them from the radiator (you need a spanner on the nut, and a pair of stilsons holding the tap so you don;t bend the pipe... I'll take a photo for you later)

then pop the taps off and stick your finger over the hole in the radiator  to stow the water running out (there'll be too much you your trays)

then lift the radiator straight up and it'll come off

carry it outside / to the toilet / wherever and drain the water out (it'll be horrible, dirty, black water which stains like hell)

leave the trays under the taps while the radiator is off... it's normal to get a few drips

:-)

p.s. when you re-fit it


there's the tap you turn to put the radiator on/off...

the tap on the other side... should only be turned on 1/8 of a turn at first.... run like that and make sure if it gets hot, if not, turn it another 1/8 of a turn.... if you open it all the way you'll throw the system out of balance and the rest of your radiators won't get enough flow :-)

I had a feeling you'd be the one to reply 

I've no idea what a stilson is so the photos will be really useful, thanks!

http://www.anchortools.com/data/images/943l.jpg

I'll photo how to do it later, need to go get tools out of garage, it's cold outside and I'm half naked :-o

Funnily enough I have just done this job myself, you'll want to be careful with that thermostatic valve, setting it to 0 should stop the flow but if you knock it while the rad is off you might find it opens and that'll make a hell of a mess, should cap the end really.

Hmm, i'm starting to think it might be easier just to paint around it! It's rented accommodation so I'll only have to paint the wall again when I leave anyway

Well sir, feeling a bit riskeeeeeh are you, because I've seen it done this way a few times, 2 man job...


Basically man one lifts it off the bracket, then leans the radiator back a bit, man 2 holds the radiator, whilst man 1 paints, then man 1 and 2 plop it back into position.

Unfortunately I'm laden with a gf who I don't feel would get into the spirit of things... so I'll probably just mask around it a bit and then dab a paint brush behind as far as it will go to hide the obvious bits.

you could get a box/cover thing for it from Ikea for about fifty pence ?

paint round it, and paint the cover to match ?

Charlotte suggested that actually but I thought they would be expensive, if that's how cheap they are then I'll do that.

home base has them for £30... ikea should be cheaper ?

Yeah I did have a quick look on Ikea and couldn't see any, might be something I could get cheap on ebay though.

just paint as far down behind it as you can. You could always lift it off the bracket & hold it while the other half paints down behind.
Is it worth the expense if you mess it up - esp. being a rented property.

IF you do decide to take it off, might be worth looking at them reflective things you can stick behind it to stop losing the heat into the wall.

I will probably just do one of the first two I think, it's not worth the hassle/risk being rented. I am still waiting for the landlady to agree that we can even paint the wall!