Painting bare-copper central heating pipes

[Darkstar]

Hi all,

Having recently moved into a flat with a new central heating system, I now have to paint the exposed piping in all the rooms which is in bare copper.

Is there a special undercoat for this and/or do I need to sandpaper the pipes first to get a good bond?

Thanks in advance

 

[Thermo]

give them all a wipe with warm soapy water to get rid of any flux residue, and then a couple of coats of a decent undercoat and normal gloss will do the trick.

 

[Panjandrum]

If you want white, you can get white plastic sleeving that slips nicely over straight pipe runs - great for the feed to radiators - avoids the need to paint.

 

[Darkstar]

Two excellent tips - thank you both for that - it's much appreciated

 

[sandwell]

When I have painted copper pipes, I have cleaned down with hot water with a detergent, then painted with 2 coats of gloss, no undercoat, or primer. That is the method I read in a book, and found it worked perfectly.

 

[TexMex]

I sprayed our copper pipes with some radiator paint from the local plumbers merchant. The finish looks like enamel. In a bathroom, it really adds a touch of class.

I believe it's usually quite expensive, but the stuff I got was a freeby as it was redundant stock (colour matched to an obsolete range that they no longer stock).

 

[kevplumb]

do the next plumber a favour and leave them alone

 

[trying]

you could rub em up each week with wire wool

or as sandwell says wipe over with wet cloth and use gloss only, Dulux recomend this method. Sorry kev

 

[HIGHRISE]

You shouldn`t undercoat copper pipes, it often turns yellow . Just gloss, several coats if needed.

 

[Zampa]

Give them a light rub with fine wire wool making sure any flux etc is removed from the surface then two coats of oil based gloss, no undercoat as it is less flexible than gloss.

 

[sr72]

howdy,
just one thing,dont paint over the valves though.makes it a bit easier if you need to swing them down for decorating.