Good Questions: Ceiling Pipes and Radiatior Eyesore?

Jason sent us a good question: "First, thanks for the continually awesome site! I'm buying my first apartment, and it's a great little basement condo in Hyde Park. The only major blemish of the unit is the revealed pipes and radiators...

... hanging from the ceiling. In the past, AT readers have had great suggestions for radiators on every wall but the 5th, so I thought I'd ask for help.

Suggestions for either hiding or successfully accenting the eyesores are much appreciated! Thanks!"

Jason, congratulations on the apartment purchase! Generally, we subscribe to the embrace it rather than hide it school of dealing with "eyesores" if at all possible. In your photos, it looks like the ceiling height is average, not high, so covering them may bring the ceiling height down uncomfortably low (even if just affects the feeling of the space). Also, with the placement so close to the window, you wouldn't want to lose or block any light/view.

First up we'd paint the entire room, ceiling and radiator included, a nice clean white - just getting it is freshly painted will make a world of difference. We would leave the radiator the same color match as the ceiling but would play up the single main ceiling pipe with a shiny, glossy color - since no one will miss it, we'd make it a design feature. We'd go for a metallic silver or perhaps a bright robins egg blue or even a high-gloss red.

Good luck and be sure to send us the after photos!

AT: Readers please weigh in with your thoughts and suggestions for Jason...

Comments (7)

Note: special radiator paint is recommended, with the proper prep work, or else the heat and moisture will cause near-immediate flaking.

I like the idea of painting it, but if you have a little more time & money can you build something over it? A lot of those pipes dont require access panels so you could build a box around it to change the shape and make it more linear. From there it could be whatever you could cover with aluminum flashing, wood, paint, texture it, etc

but be careful to know what you're covering -- i had the not so fun experience once of no access to our gas meter in the basement and we smelled a leak and the gas company came by to check it out but we had to cut a hole through the drywall (done by a previous owner) for them to inspect.

now there's a little door there for access, but this was messy to deal with and would have been really unsafe if the leak had not been minor. plus it's always fun patching drywall and repainting the entire basement.

i'm thinking radiator cover on the ceiling. have some fun with wood slats, natural or painted, and build a partially open box around the radiators and/or pipes. make it as narrow as possible. you could also add some indirect lighting behind it and really create a dramatic effect. painting the pipe could add to this as well. so, even if you stick with the white walls and white ceiling, you could get a really nice wash of light down the surfaces, and maybe a punch of color with the pipe. it could also serve as a window valence for some retractable shades.

too bad this comment box doesn't have a sketch function...

It's hard to guess the layout of the space and how much room you have to work with, but if I wanted to cover over the pipes, I would be sorely tempted to build around this. Have floor-to-ceiling bookcases with storage space behind them on either side of the window, and a cushioned window seat/bench under the window itself. Throw on some airy curtains and you'd give the space some real character and create great storage too. It'd be a project, but what project involving window nooks is not worth it?

This is presuming that you have enough cash and/or know-how to do something more elaborate than paint. If you don't, I'd be tempted to paint the walls a lighter, eye-catching color up to about 1 foot below the ceiling and to paint the remaining space--along with the pipe and radiator--soft white.

If you're going to paint the radiators and pipes.. make sure you use the right paint. Automotive Engine Spray paint will also work but will limit your color choices.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I submitted this question, and I appreciate all the ideas.

More pictures of the apartment can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swadley/sets/72157601746212294/

These pipes go through every room, so if I paint the main pipe a color other than white, I'd probably like to keep it constant throughout the same 3 rooms.

Do you think I should do this? If so, what colors would you suggest?

Thanks so much.

- Jason Swadley