I built this radiator cover for a couple of reasons.First I don't really like radiators, I think they look a bit ugly, but moreover the plasterer did a bit of a crap job around the radiator so this is just covering it up.

Because the radiator is so close to the door and the wall kicks out a bit to cover the pipes an off the shelf cover wasn't really suitable as it would need a lot of trimming to make it fit. I also had a lovely piece of timber I reclaimed from a fireplace I've been meaning to use in a project for a while so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to make something bespoke.

Tools:

a hand saw
a table saw
a coping saw
a file and sand paper for the rough edges

Materials:

reclaimed fireplace wood (used for top shelf)
8mm tongue and grove timber cladding
Timber off cuts used for uprights
wood glue
Screws and wral plugs (for securing to the wall)

Step 1: Before

Step 2: Cut the Shelf

The first step for this was to cut the shelf into shape to fit around the door frame, I measured the spaces using vernier calipers and cut a test board to check for size before I started cutting the wood I wanted to use. Good thing I did too as my measurements were completely wrong so my first attempts had a massive gap at the wall. On the 3rd attempt I had almost got it right so I used that board as a stencil. I cut the plank with a handsaw and then squared off the 3 remaining sides with a table saw, making sure it was wide enough and deep enough to encapsulate the radiator and all the piping and allowing an additional 8mm on each side for the body cladding.

Step 3: Body

The body was shaped using the shelf as a measuring guide. Unfortunately the wall is bowed ever so slightly inwards so I build the side 20mm wider than it needed to be, this allowed me to line to side up against the wall an use a measuring gauge and a pencil to follow the curve up the wall, tracing it onto the board. I then cut the curve using a coping saw and trimmed the remaining amount off the other side.

I used 8mm tongue and grove cladding as I had a load left over from another job and I worked out I only needed two full lengths to achieve the style I wanted.

Step 4: Front Cladding

I saw this finish on pintrest and though it looked really nice considering how simple it is to do. First I cut the timber to the desired width, depth and length using my table saw (although you can get it pre-cut from most building suppliers) then I glued the middle bar in position. Then I positioned one of the bars as a spaced next to the centre bar and glued second one next to it. Once the glue had dried I removed the spacers leaving a row of equally spaced bars. I also used a router to cut a deep grove in two of the bars allowing them to cover the vertical edges on the front cut out as I wasn't very happy with the finish.

Step 5: Securing to the Wall

As this needs to be removable incase there is a problem with the radiator I secured it to the wall using a single screw and two split batons along the bottom edge. (No pictures of the split batons as they're really difficult to photograph and the first screw I put in pulled the wral plug straight out of the wall so I had to attach an angle bracket and use a second screw).