On Nov 20, 5:24*pm, "Alta47" wrote:
I bought an old house that has a one-pipe steam heat system, and I never had
steam heat before. I'll probably be renting the house out.

I'm painting the house and I want to paint, and possibly insulate, the
vertical pipes that go up through the rooms. I want to paint them so they
will look better, but I am also concerned about how hot they get and would
like to make them safer in terms of tenants' kids grabbing or leaning
against a hot pipe. Any ideas regarding type of paint and or insulation I
should use?

I also want to at least insulate, and possibly paint, the horizontal steam
pipes in the basement. I have a hunch that they used to have asbestos
insulation on them that was taken off at some time in the past. They appear
to be a little rusty or corroded, but I don't know if they were ever painted
before.

For the basement pipes:

1) Would painting them help preserve them by keeping them from rusting or
corroding?

Painting would help, but it really takes a lot of corrosion to do
damage to those pipes. They are steel with cast iron fittings.

2) What type of paint should I use?

Oil base paint is ideal, but it will stink up your house for a few
days when the pipes get hot. The smell will eventally go away. But you
could use regular latex as well. I used it before with no problems

3) What kind of insulation should I put on them?

Use the fiberglass type insulation like these
http://www.energysolutionscenter.org...ulation_FG.jpg
If you use them, I would not bother to paint the pipe.