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?

2) What type of paint should I use?

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

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.

"Alta47" wrote in message
...
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?

2) What type of paint should I use?

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



If you insulate, don't bother with paint. The only insulation that will
take the heat is a fiberglass roll with a paper outer coating that you could
paint. Aside from a typical high heat paint I'm not sure what will last on
the bare pipe. Steam is over 212 degrees so it will be hot. A good
plumbing supply store or specialty insulation place will have the pipe
insulation. Owens Corning is one maker of it. You can also buy a metal
jacket that goes over the paper for better durability.

Paint is no help with corrosion. You have to be more concerned about the
inside of the pipe than the outside.

The boiler and radiators may also be sized to take advantage of the heat
given off by those steam pipes too. If you don't want to heat the basement,
then insulate.

Steam boilers need a little care on a weekly basis. If you rent the house
out, be sure the tenants to that every weeks. The heat is great, but needs
more care than a water boiler.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

If you insulate, don't bother with paint. The only insulation that will
take the heat is a fiberglass roll with a paper outer coating that you
could paint.

Makes sense. That's probably what I'll do.

Steam boilers need a little care on a weekly basis. If you rent the house
out, be sure the tenants do that ..... The heat is great, but needs more
care than a water boiler.

This was a new one for me since I never had steam heat before. I got the
"low-down on blow-down" from two different heating people I had there to
check out and work on the heater. It sure seems weird to be telling tenants
to drain some boiling water out of the heater into a bucket every couple of
weeks, but I guess that's the deal with steam heat. One of the heater
people had a good suggestion. He said that he has a similar rental property
with a basement like mine that also has an outdoor entrance. He said that
he put in the lease that the basement is not a part of the rental space and
that he (the landlord) will be coming in and out of the basement from the
outside to maintain the heater, etc. He put a lock on the door at the top
of the inside basement steps so the tenants can keep their space locked off
from the basement, and he said he allows the tenants access to the basement
to store a few things there like bikes if they want and to be able to access
the circuit breakers etc. if needed. But he has open access to come in and
out of the basement at any time.

I just bought a book called "We Got Steam Heat!" from http://heatinghelp.com
that I should be receiving in a few days.

Thanks. I think I'll be doing number 3 -- using fiberglass insulation and
skipping the paint idea.

"Mikepier" wrote in message
...

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.

Use reflectix insulation- foil bubble wrap. Works Great and is cheap.

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?

2) What type of paint should I use?

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

wrote:
Use reflectix insulation- foil bubble wrap. Works Great and is cheap.

Thanks. I'll check it out if I can find it at places like Home Depot,
Lowes, etc.

But I have a hunch that I will end up using the fiberglass/ASJ pipe
insulation sections since I htink that will probably look better.

Alta47 wrote:

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?


They will only lean or grab once.