Table and Radiator Question

[Bill Grumbine]

Greetings all

We are doing some rearranging here in the house, and a space has opened up that might be put to more efficient use if it had a long narrow table in it. The (potential) problem is, there is a long narrow radiator there. I know there are wood radiator covers out there, and we have had a stunning piece of melamine over this radiator for 1 1/2 winters now, but I am wondering if there would be a way to build a table that would not suffer the ravages of heat during the winter months. If anyone here has experience with building tables of this sort, I would be glad to read about it. For the record, this radiator is one of those large cast iron jobs, not some wimpy baseboard thing. :D

Bill

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

IPE, Teak, or other oily durable wood frame and legs with a marble or grainet top?? The top is where most of the problems from a radiator would occur.

[Mike Parzych]

I saw Wolf Radiator Covers website and they use a 97% reflective lining on the insides of theirs, in close proximity to the wood. It's basically a thin sheet of bubble wrap foiled on both sides - probably 3/16th thick overall. I found it at the local BORG.

[Jamie Buxton]

If you put a solid-lumber table top above the radiator, the bottom face dries out in winter, and the top tries to cup. The problem is compounded because you've probably done the right thing and made a sliding joint between the table top and the aprons. That means the top isn't held too securely, so it cups easily. However, if you make your top from plywood, it is less likely to cup. Furthermore, you can tie it firmly to the aprons and such, and force the thing to stay flat no matter what it wants.

[Johnathan Bussom]

Bill,
A couple years ago I replaced kitchen cabinets and counter tops in this 100+ old house, I have the cast iron also and there was a small one of these located under the cabinets, it is still there!

The way it was in (narrow ways with end facing out) is with sheet metal attached at back side and formed up over the heater leaving about 3" between the counter top and the metal, approx 5" above the heater and has that brass punched metal in front for the heat to come out.. gets really hot out the front but I don't feel any heat on the counter top.

John

["Gary Brewer"]

Bill: Tom Silva in the TV series "Ask This Old House" made a wooden cover for a cast iron radiator in one of their episodes. I don't know if the style is what you are looking for but you could probably find the episode and check it out.
Gary

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks for the responses everyone! I want to keep the table as light as possible in appearance, sort of like a sofa table kind of thing. I like the idea of foil insulation on the bottom of the top, especially since I was already thinking of something like that. Species is most likely going to be wormy maple or walnut, or possibly cherry. I have a very wide walnut board I have been saving for something like this, but I am not sure it is long enough. Of course, I would have to plane it by hand or find someone with an 18" planer, or bite the bullet and sand it down on my Performax. Marble or granite would look nice, but would be way to expensive plus it wouldn't look like it belongs in our particluar decor.

Bill

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Bill,

MDF?!? :D

Seriously you could do a veneer and eliminate a lot of the movement problems. You may have a problem with the glue and the heat though.

Do you have a building materials recycler near you? They can be a great source for nice looking but steeply discounted marble. It is usually smaller peices like ould window ledges but occasionally a larger piece shows up. In Pgh. there is a place that all they do is marble resale.

[Steven Wilson]

Bill, instead of foil you could make a "false" top under the regular table top. Build a normal table and then install a few cleats along the rail under the regular top. Place a piece of 1/8" or 1/4" plywood suspended by the cleats and make that a sacraficial piece. It will cup or warp as it sees fit but it will also act to insulate your table top from heat.

[Mike Parzych]

The point of the heat reflective foil lining on all of the inside is to reflect the heat outward through the slat section rather than have it just rise striaght up to the ceiling, so it's a functional part rather than a heat shield for the wood. Wolf radiator Enclosures - http://www.eradiatorcovers.biz/

makes their units from hardwood and apparently doesn't have wood movement issue resultant from the radiator heat, otherwise they'd be doing something different.