Baseboard Heater Covers Rusting

How to Replace or Renovate Baseboard Heating Covers

By Mark J. Donovan




Over time baseboard heater covers can begin to rust, particularly ones located in bathrooms or other moist areas. Rusting baseboard heating covers is particularly common when the heating element is located near a toilet or bath/shower unit. In these locations, within just a year or two of installation the baseboard heating covers can show signs of rust and corrosion.

Replace Rusting Baseboard Heater Covers

To eliminate the rust you have two basic options. 

First you can purchase replacement baseboard heating covers and simply pop off the old ones and snap in the new ones.

Unfortunately finding replacement ones that match the original baseboard heating element covers can be difficult and they are not inexpensive. This said, it may be worth a little bit of investigative effort to see if you can locate some affordable and matching replacement ones. Alternatively you can purchase baseboard heater covers that don’t necessarily match the other baseboard heater covers in the home.

This may not be such a bad compromise, particularly if you are changing all of the baseboard heater covers within the same room. Again, however, restoring rusting baseboard heater covers by replacing them can be expensive.

Renovate Rusted Baseboard Heater Covers

The second option for baseboard heater cover rusting is to restore them to their original look with some sweat equity. With a little effort you can renovate them to their original look. All you need is some steel wool, enamel paint, masking tape, and a dust mask.

Restoring Steel Baseboard Heating Element Covers EBook

Learn how to refurbish your baseboard heating element covers with this eBook.

To refurbish rusting baseboard heating element covers remove all sections from the heating element, with the exception of the back piece that is fastened to the wall.

Next, sand down all of the surface areas of the rusting baseboard heating element cover pieces with steel wool. Make sure to remove all of the rusted areas down to the bare surface metal.

Now, using a sponge foam brush apply a thin coat of protective enamel paint over each baseboard heater cover piece and then allow the pieces to dry fully.

Apply one or two addition coats of enamel paint to ensure an even and beautiful look.

For the baseboard heater cover section that you left fastened to the wall, first apply masking tape on the drywall around the periphery of the cover. Then use the steel wool to lightly sand the exposed surface areas of the baseboard heating cover. 

How water baseboard heating element.

Wipe the cover down with a clean dry rag and then apply a coat of enamel paint to it using a foam brush. Allow the paint to dry fully before applying one additional finish coat.

Once the baseboard heating covers are dry reattach the disassembled pieces to the baseboard heating element. And with that, your rusting baseboard heating covers should be a thing of the past.


For information on Restoring Baseboard Heating Element Covers, see the Restoring Baseboard Heating Element Covers eBook from HomeAdditionPlus.com. The Restoring Baseboard Heating Element Covers Ebook provides easy to understand, step-by-step instructions, on how to restore Baseboard Heating Element Covers so that they look new again. Pictures are included for every key step in the process.

For information on how to maximize a wood stove’s heating efficiency, see HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Installation of Hood over Wood Stove eBook

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