Creative DIYer Turns Tankless Water Heater Cover Eyesore Into A Beautiful Work Of Art

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The efficient heating capability of a tankless water heater makes it an enticing upgrade when your old water heater no longer warms your heart or your household water. In fact, a tankless unit does swimmingly as an eco-friendly home renovation that gives you top ROI. Experts generally agree that a tankless system is more efficient, but their exposed placement (often in plain sight in a basement, utility room, laundry room, or garage) can make you cringe at the sight of your heater. In terms of aesthetics, it's boring, industrial, or unimaginatively functional. 

Luckily, you can turn your eyesore of a tankless water heater cover into a beautiful work of art by painting it. If you're artistic, you'll be able to dive right into this project with a few paints, but even if you aren't very artistic, you can achieve a beautiful effect with a little ingenuity and minimal skills. In addition, you can paint the cover and hang a picture over it, turning it into a creative frame. One DIYer, TikToker athomewithashley, did just that.

Before beginning your project, take the time to do a little prep work. One of the first tasks to tackle is also an easy one: cleaning the surface that is to be painted. All painting projects begin with a clean surface. You also don't want to forget a handy step when painting: Rough up the surface with some medium-grit (180 to 220) sandpaper in order to ensure that the paint will make good contact with the surface. Once you've finished sanding, be sure to clean everything again so that the dust particles won't mar your new paint job.

With your blank cover now prepped, you may feel a creative tug that inspires you to do more and add your own flair. If you don't have great skills with a paintbrush, that simple coat of paint can scrap the industrial image and help the cover blend into your wall. There are no design rules, but there is a big product guideline. 

Choose a paint that's compatible with the surface, which is usually one of three materials: pre-painted mild steel, galvanized steel that is coated to resist corrosion, or powder-coated steel (for outdoor units). Don't know the type of metal on your heater? Choose a paint that works with many metal types. A direct-to-metal paint, like Behr Premium, is good. You also could use Rust-Oleum spray paint, but if so, make spray paint DIYs much easier and wear a respirator.

To turn the tankless water heater cover into something more useful, give it a base coat, then follow it up with a few coats of chalkboard paint. If you want to be especially unique, you could DIY chalkboard paint with two simple ingredients, one of which is the paint itself. Being able to make chalkboard paint from any color gives you the opportunity to match it to anything you like.