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I thought these floor units were not up to code anymore? At least not in Michigan. We had one in our house, house builit in 1950 and was replaced with a regular furnace and the floor unit covered up with floor tiles to match the rest of the house. I remember when I was little (this was my grandparents house) being told to stay away, because yes you could suffer nasty burns. Sorry I dont' know how this problem can be resolved but check to see if that is even code anymore, it probably isn't.

/\ It's probably grandfathered in unless there is a renovation.

Colleen2009, you're probably right that you couldn't build a house with floor furnace vents today, but I imagine that an old building like this (1920's) is grandfathered in, as they say.

My next door neighbor set off her smoke alarm at 6:00am the morning after Thanksgiving when she was away (visiting her mother, I think) a couple years ago. She had left a stack of CD jewel cases and possibly a plastic bag on top of a floor vent, and the plastic had melted and created some noxious smoke. So I think those metal grates could be a fire hazard as well, if something flammable were left on top.

He's 4, I think he'll remember now that the grate is hot. I grew up with floor grates, as did most of my peers. None of us managed to burn ourselves (parents must have warned us? I don't remember).

This picture scares the bejesus out of me! Even though I've spent most of my life in cold climates I have never heard of such a thing.

I would think most everyone had these in a childhood home. To be honest, I've actually stood on one myself - unless you are blasting the furnace, your sons feet shouldn't have been burned.

Anyways, some of us learn the easy way not to do something (by simply listening to our parents) and the others learn the hard way (aka burns) - I really doubt he'll try it again.

although this is really scary, I used to live in an apartment with these floor grates. My cats loved it - they would lay on them and roll around really slowly so as not to get too hot in one spot. rotisserie kitties!

We had one of these growing up (1930s Craftsman) and all of us kids learned pretty quickly to stay off of it. He probably learned his lesson and won't step on it again.

If this is one of a number of heat vents, why not just shut this one off? There's usually a flap that allows individual vents to be shut.

I don't know what kind of floor furnace you're talking about. The ones we had in the 1940s-constructed house I grew up in (in the South, BTW) were self-contained units, though each had a natural-gas line to the main line coming from the street. Each unit had a pilot light and its own controls, and it was possible, in summer, to turn them completely off (extinguish the pilot and turn the gas to off), even to put something between the grate and guts, which were suspended in a metal box beneath the house which had a crawl space. Even if yours is connected to a basement furnace, there MUST be a way to turn off a solitary vent. That and the kind of scolding that kept all of us from incinerating ourselves while growing up should do it.

Most hardwood flooring stores carry those wood grates as well in a variety of sizes.

"If this is one of a number of heat vents, why not just shut this one off? There's usually a flap that allows individual vents to be shut."

No - These were common in the 30's and 40's - The one in my Grandmother's house was in the archway between the front hall and the living room - this was the only source of heat for the entire house (the heat rose through via the stairway to the 2nd floor) and the furnace was right beneath the @ 2'x4' grate (so no replacements available like Gregory suggested)

All of her children burned their feet on that thing and my sister did as well -I think I was the only one who didn't.

And yes, after this type of incident, kids learn.

As to building codes: That only applies to renovations and newbuilds, not older existing work.

Oh, and as far as the OP's question: The answer is not to replace or cover the grate, but to remove this old and highly inefficient furnace from your house, patch over the hole in the floor and install a new more efficient and safer heating system for your home.

How about plastidip. You can paint it on or spray it on and you can get it at most hardware stores or online... http://www.toolorbit.com/Brand/Performix/Performix-18Z03-6.html

hmm, i used to sit/stand over our floor vents when i was younger. so nice and toasty during the winter! they were never hot enough to burn/blister, though...

It sounds like it's defective, it Shouldn't have burned your baby....I would speak to super or building owner and have it removed, fixed, replaced, whatever....or else.

I think the responses are confusing two different kinds of floor grates.

The first kind of floor grate is the smaller vents you get with a forced air system and ducting--these are not particularly dangerous, and the replacement wooden covers pictured above would work perfectly well for these. Cats like to sleep on these kinds of grates, as mentioned, and when I was a kid I liked to stand on them to get my feet warm. They're not particularly dangerous.

The second kind of grate is the kind you're dealing with: totally different animal. The furnace is directly below the grate, and it's quite large, usually 2 feet by 4 feet, and they get dangerously hot. We had one in an older house we rented in the same place (the hallway next to the bathroom between the bedrooms), and because it was the only heat in the house, we just had to learn to walk around it. But we didn't have kids then. I don't know any way to replace the grate (it has to be metal; it's right above the actual furnace, and yes there are flames) so I'd suggest turning off the furnace and heating with one of the newer space heaters. The oil-filled ones aren't bad, and while they're still risky with kids, they're way less so than floor furnaces.

I would have loved to have gotten the landlord to replace the floor furnace in our old place, but even when PG&E came and tagged it as a health hazard during a routine inspection she wouldn't do it. I can hardly believe they were ever legal.

can you fence it off somehow? Even a four or five inch tall barrier around the edge would help keep people off. I know it's in an entry way, but that's the best thing I can think of.

Good luck and I hope his feet heal well!

bepsf - She rents. Therefore, I doubt she's going to want to sink $$$$ into replacing the heating system for her landlord.

I remember these - we didn't have central heating when I was a kid, just one big vent in the middle of the living room. There are a lot of pictures of me and all my sisters standing in a row over it on cold winter mornings. We all grew up with it and learned fast that it was too hot to stand directly on. I have to imagine your kid will learn the same (kids are quick with that kind of stuff, my nephew lives in a house with a pellet stove that is their main heat source and he's only three, HOT was one of his first words and he is totally fine around the thing now).

i'm wondering if you can use a silicone sink mat over the grate. They are heat resistant (not positive about how hot though) and they have small holes in them to allow water to drain through (which would allow heat to still rise).

Yeah unless you have steam or hot water heat or forced hot air, this is another common way to heat the house back in the day, I think they became largely obsolete by the 40's with the other systems being favored for a lot of reasons (and not to mention an all electric system, such as electric baseboard heat).

Other than ensuring people don't stand on the grate itself and keeping your little one off of it, there is little one can do, covering it or anything is not a good idea for it allows air and flame to exist and add to that, the heat, which then has to rise by convection upstairs, covering any or all of it negates it's use at all.

I'm surprised such systems are still in use these days when most wear out after 50 years or more (the fireboxes mainly).

I grew up with a gas fed forced hot air system and the grate in the hall floor by the stairs was the cold air return, standard vents in the floors or ceiling for the basement brought the heat to each room.

Please be super careful with that heater. They are VERY dangerous. My good friend rented a house matching your home's description: 1920's craftsman with the same kind of floor heater. About a month ago, one of his dogs knocked something onto the heater grate while he was out. The house burned to the ground. Both of his dogs died. The fire fighters said the house's old wood went up like a book of matches.
Also, my husband's childhood home (many years after his family moved away) fared the same fate. It too was an old house that burned down from a floor heater fire.

At the very least, please have the gas company come to inspect the furnace. They will do this for no charge. In California, the gas companies will replace a pipe with an earthquake friendly one that flexes, also for no charge.

If I were you, I would simply have the gas co.to inspect the furnace (for gas leaks too) and extinguish the pilot light.
Better to bring extra blankies and drink hot chocalate than to experience a tragedy.

I think I agree with genjenn here for the most part. If you don't want to go without the heat, I would be asking to have the property inspected. I would think it's not up to code and the landlord would have to replace it.