Hi all! I am open to suggestions on how to cover this plywood up that forms the wall base of an X-Ray arm thing that my dentist had installed over the weekend. His brother was kind enough to put it in for him, and now it has fallen to me to paint the room and do something about the plywood. I was thinking of putting a nice quarter round around it and maybe painting it the same color was the new wall paint that will go on. The holes above it is where the old X-Ray arm used to be, nothing a little compound and sanding can’t fix before I paint it. Any ideas? The quarter round route seems to be the easiest way to go but I thought I would post on here before I got started on it this weekend. The plywood has to stay, it is bolted on and the arm is wired up already. It is functioning, just not too pretty. Thanks for any suggestions!
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
Edited 4/30/2007 3:53 pm by Pebble
Replies
I'd be tempted to have a metal shop fold up a little cover (from 16-22 gauge stainless sheet) that slips over it from the top, with a brushed finish. Darned arm probably cost a mint; needs to have a nice plinth!
Shape would be like a shoebox lid with a big slot in it
Forrest
I was thinking shape it like a giant molar!;)But I guess it will just have to settle for a quarter round or a bolection molding, some bondo, and some paint.'course, I have known some dentists witha great sense of humour.
I saw one laughing all the way to the bank!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I think the dentist's brother got the easy part! Frankly, it looks like crap. He should have used a solid piece of wood (preferably a tight grain hardwood) with an eased edge, centered the arm's base plate and it should go all the way down to the backsplash. Then painted to match the wall or the machine itself.
How much more work to do it right? There might be a junction box back there, so maybe it wouldn't be worth it.
I like the quarter round idea. Another option would be to use outside corner molding. If it's 5/8 ply (or some other size that quarter round doesn't come in), then outside corner molding might be a better choice because you can just trim down one of the sides to whatever width you need. Of course you could trim quarter round too, but you would need to sand it since the cut edge would be exposed.
I can't tell from the picture whether outside corner molding would actually fit under the arm's base plate.
It is 3/4" plywood. There is a bunch of wires that come through a hole in the plywood that powers the X-Ray apparatus. I am not keen on taking all that apart, although if I did, the arm would just slide right off the mount. That is something I had not considered, that quarter round would not be thick enough to be even with the plywood. If I painted the whole thing I could fill any gaps with wood filler to make for a cohesive look. The steel slip on plate is tempting. I could make a mockup of the dimensions and ask a steel shop down the road from me to make a slip cover box.Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
I think if you paint it out the same color as the wall it will look fine. I wouldn't even bother with the molding.
Hope this helps. Rich.
Ha, it kind of does help! This dentist is very good, and was trying to come up with suggestions on how to make it look good. As much as I would love to say, 'Oh we can just paint it the same color as the wall', somehow I want to please the guy and let him believe that if I do a little more to it then it will turn out perfect lolHandyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
Make a copy in corian.
Or cover it with laminate.
Quarter round is what I was thinking as I read your post. Quick, relatively easy and should blend pretty well. Hardest part will be hiding the wood grain of the plywood--it will probably show thru the paint, but no real big deal.
Paint it with two coats of K&B Melamine paint, then iron on matching Melamine edge banding. It'll look like it came with the X-ray machine.
If you can't get an iron in there, heat up the banding with a heat gun. You don't need humongous amounts of heat to soften the glue.
Dinosaur
DON'T MISS THE FEST!
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I vote for a trompe l'oiel. A really good optical illusion would drive people on the other end of the Xray machine crazy<g>.'NorthStar' sour cherry & Virginia bluebells in full glorious bloom SW of Chicago!!
Laminate it same color as the wall, edge band it, done. Its a medical setting, so something that is not porous and easily kept sanitary is in order.
Melamine Kitchen&Bath paint provides a non-porous, very slightly textured surface which wipes clean with spray cleaners quite nicely; it's designed for that.
Which is not to say that your idea of going with an Arborite or Formica laminate wouldn't work well, but trimming that stuff to fit perfectly around the mount would be finicky for anyone who doesn't do laminate all the time. That stuff isn't all that forgiving....
Dinosaur
DON'T MISS THE FEST!
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
You are right about the laminate, you really have to be familiar with it , a proper router bit is essential to run a nice edge all around.I've never heard of this laminate paint? What's the brand name, where do I find info about it? Very interesting, this paint thing.
Several companies up here make it; Sico is one. It's sold as Kitchen & Bath paint or Melamine paint, depending on the brand. I use it on walls in any 'wet' room that's not tiled all the way up. It's not a high gloss paint--it dries with a texture very similar to melamine--but it's too shiny for use in bedrooms or living areas. (Found that out the hard way, too, LOL.)
Dinosaur
DON'T MISS THE FEST!
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Thanks, I'll have to check it out, sounds like an easy quick alternative in some situations.
isn't that special. a 10,000 xray machine hanging on a pc of a d plywood. i hope the guy doesn't get a job with nasa,the space shuttle will be wrapped in a piece of masonite for a heat shield.
ok so heres what i would do. first i would fit a nice pc of 1/4" qtr sawn oak to cover the plywood then a pc of 3/4 oak cove around the metal box.then a piece of cabinet mldg aroud the edge.tell him he owes you a crown or ask what he bills out per hour. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I'd band that mess with oak and cover the top with a cool looking laminate. The square footage is minimal so even the high $ laminates aren't out of reach. Get the one that looks best for the situation. They might like it enough to have you recover that ugly green countertop as well!
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
I forgot to add that the dimensions of the plywood are 8" by 12", exactly. 3/4" thick.Great suggestions everyone! The laminate suggestions are great. I will definitely post after pics.Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
If you decide to forego the metal slip plate or laminate (both cool ideas) and just edgeband/add molding to it and paint it, you could always do a slurry coat/grain fill to eliminate the ply's wood grain and texturally blend it into the wall.soj
(keepin' it really simple :^))
Edited 4/23/2007 11:36 pm ET by Sojourner
I got to wondering what's holding that plywood on the wall. I see wall anchors above it which leads me to believe that the old machine was mounted where there wasn't a stud.
If that's the case, then you may actually get a chance redo the mounting system completely when it pulls off the drywall!
Another suggested $10k, I bet that piece of equipment is more like $40k. Whole different pricing scheme for doc's and dentists. Anyway, another idea might be to break a piece of tin of the same color (or have one painted) to slip over the ugly piece of plywood. Looks like the bracket is very close to the bottom so the bottom cover can be open. I am surprised the manuf does not have something. Those type of suppliers are notorious for being anal because of their clientele.
My two bits.
What McD said. Stainless. Makes it look techy official 'medi' type stuff. Clean & neat.
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...
Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home.
...aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
If you spin that thing around can it see the studs in the wall?
No. It is probably bolted onto the stud. In one of the pictures you can barely see the head of a bolt. The box shaped thing on the plywood is just a cover. It comes off via a little screw on the bottom. Under it one can see (not in any of these pictures) that the arm is bolted onto the plywood, which in turn is bolted onto the stud.If I get back there before I start work on it I will take more pictures so that I can more clearly explain.Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
I was kidding. It would be cool to have a stud finder that can see thru walls.
Lol... I went back and double checked the question... something didn't seem right :)Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
If you look at that wall with the phone, the wall warts, glove dispensor. Then see that 80% of the plywood is covered by the arm attachement I don't see any need for "heroic" efforts to hide the plywood..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.