G E Little Radiator Covers

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General Questions:

Do you have a showroom?
No, unfortunately we just have offices and the factory/warehouse that are not open to the public. Please also note that we close at lunchtime on Fridays.

Do you manufacture your own products?
Yes, we both manufacture and import products. Made to measure and ready made items are manufactured in the UK at our own facility. We also hold massive stocks of imported ready made covers. 

So we can respond to our customers requirements very quickly and provide a high customer service level we do not just "factor" other manufacturers' products. 

From where do you source your timber products?
We are aware that we are using a natural resource when producing wood products. We are careful to ensure that all timber products used are harvested from sustainable and managed forests. This includes our MDF (wood pulp) for the real wood veneers used in producing the radiator covers and the Veneered MDF grilles.

Delivery Questions

Why are some of your dispatch times listed as long as 15 working days?
For the covers we manufacture, we hold these in stock in all sizes in plain MDF only (to save on storage space) and we grille, prime, paint and pack them only to order - hence the longer dispatch times of up to 15 working days.

Other ex-stock products are sent as soon as we are physcially able however, all orders require processing, picking, packing and labelling before collection by the carriers. Our warehouse closes at 4pm daily and the carriers routinely collect from us at 7.30-8am daily and therefore, orders received after approx 3pm daily will not be ready for dispatch by 8am the following day. We also do not routinely dispatch orders on a Friday as we close at lunchtime on Fridays and we do only utilise a next WORKING day (i.e. Mon-Fri) service.

Please do not expect to order over a weekend and have your order arrive the following working day. Orders received on non-working days (i.e. weekends and holiday periods) will not be processed until the following working day. We endeavour to deal with Ebay enquiries throughout weekends and holiday periods, wherever possible, but the warehouse and factory are only open on working days and close at lunchtime on Fridays.

What do I do if my order does not arrive as anticipated?

You will be sent an order dispatch email so you will know when to expect your delivery. If this does not arrive as planned, please email us the following working day (we will be unable to ascertain anything until the following working day) and we will investigate with the carriers. As you will be aware, the service is not a guaranteed service, although we find that well over 95% of orders do indeed arrive the following working day (exc Scotland and off-shore Islands). We will do everything within our power to ensure as speedy a delivery to you as possible but you will appreciate that the actual delivery time is outside of our control. You can however assist us in providing your telephone number so that we are able to pass this onto the carriers so they are able to contact you in case of need (e.g. for directions etc).

Can you provide a delivery time/deliver on a specific day and/or provide tracking information?

You can find most of this detailed in our delivery info page in our EBay shop as we are unable to give delivery times or arrange specific days. Unfortunately, the carrier we currently use does not have a proper tracking system - their system only updates to confirm the dispatch and then again to confirm the delivery, with proof of delivery etc it does not therefore provide any useful tracking information. They are updating their system currently and as soon as a more comprehensive system is available, we will provide these details within the order dispatch email.

Can I give you detailed delivery information to pass to the carrtiers?

Again, you can find information on this under delivery info but we are able to pass a limited amount of info onto the carriers but can only do so if instructed before the order leaves ourselves. Once it has left, we are unable to pass any further details on. We are also unable to request that they leave the goods without a signature as our contract with them does specifically require that they obtain a signature. You may however leave a note requesting this and the driver MAY be willing to leave as requested. The drivers will not telephone in advance to advise of delivery and the carrier company cannot give estimated times for deliveries.

How do I access my radiator valves once the radiator cover is fitted?
All our ready made covers come with complete fixing instructions and all necessary fixings. Assembly of the cover only takes a few minutes. All ready made designs use "wall hook" fixings (or similar) and once these are fitted to the wall removal, and repositioning, of the whole cover for access takes just seconds. In this way the whole cover surround can be taken off very easily for full access.

Alternatively, Henley, Elan and Regal designs (when listed) have removable fronts /opening doors.

Can radiator covers be fitted over electric storage heaters?
No, all our cabinets are designed for use with standard radiators and are not suitable for covering electric storage heaters.

Does adding a radiator cover obstruct heat flow?
In our experience MDF covers do not create any additional heat loss/output problems as MDF is very stable and does not absorb heat. The heat is pushed out in to the room (rather than just going straight up from the radiator). You will see that all designs have a large bottom vent (inlet) and another slightly smaller top vent (outlet) - this means that the cool air is pulled in through the bottom and convected up and out the top. As we do not restrict this convection process in the designs the heat output is maintained as the radiator has the same free flow of "air" passing it just as if it were an uncovered radiator. In addition to the top and bottom vent all our grille options have approx 50% free airflow, in other words the amount of "holes" in a grille by mm2 area is approx the same as the MDF area in mm2.

The same principle applies to the covering of thermostatic valves. Most customers choose to cover their valves with their radiator cover rather than leaving them exposed. As above, as the air is drawn in at the foot of the radiator cover, the cooler air by-passes the valve in much the same way as it would were it not covered hence the thermostatic function is not affected.

Do the grilles come fitted?
Yes - all covers that require a grille will come with the ordered grille pre-fitted.

Is there any difference in specification between the imported and British made covers?
Yes there is. Many of our ready made covers are imported which is why they are so cost-effective. They are all machined from 12-15mm MDF and the grilles are 3mm MDF grilles. Our own range are produced in our own facility here in the UK and we utilise 18mm standard Medite MDF (British produced) and 19mm on veneered MDF with 4mm MDF grilles (6mm on New England Range).

Our own British made designs are Traditional, Squares & Lines, Stars and New England - all others are imported.

How do I finish my cabinet and will you paint my cabinet in my choice of colour?
For plain MDF cabinets we would recommend that you gently sand any rough edges using fine grade sandpaper. Remove any dust with a soft damp cloth. Then coat with primer before applying your chosen colour.  IMPORTANT NOTE: We are in the process of moving all our production over from Medite MDF to moisture resistant MDF for our UK made cabinets only which is a higher density and therefore smoother flatter and easier to paint but with the added bonus of being moisture resistant too. Whilst this does mean customers are getting a higher quality material that is also easier to finish, the moisture resistant board has a green hue to it unlike the brown finish of the Medite MDF.

For primed cabinets a light sanding before applying your chosen colour is recommended.

As with all woodwork, it is strongly recommended that you wear a mask and work in a well-ventilated area.

We also recommend priming and painting the cabinet before assembly for ease of painting - the grilled front panel is best painted by placing this on newspaper (or other protected flat surface) on the floor and painting/priming utilising a roller. Care should be taken when priming/painting the grille panels as these are decorative grilles (3mm thick on imported covers and 4mm on UK made covers) with approx 50% airflow and therefore quite delicate so care should be exercised to ensure that not too much pressure is applied.

Any paint is suitable for finishing but we would recommend an oil based paint to ensure the finish is waterproof and relatively easy to clean.

We are unable to paint our cabinets to any other finishes other than those detailed on our ordering pages i.e. primed or white.

How do the covers fit to the wall?
After the cover has been assembled, they are easily fitted to the wall by "hook" fixings (or similar). For our UK manufactured covers just place the cover against the wall. Mark through onto the wall where the rebated grooves are in the underside of the top lid. Take the cover away, drill the holes and, using suitable fixings (standard fixings supplied - alternative fixings may be required e.g. for stud walls), afix the "hook" style fixings to the wall. Your cover will now "clip" over these hooks. The cover weight is actually taken by the floor, the fixings are designed to stop the cover from tipping forward for safety and to stop it from moving from side to side. The cover can be easily "unclipped" from the wall as and when required. All other imported ready made cabinets utilise a similar system to that detailed above. The exception to this is the Elan design which utilise standard mirror plates for fitting the cover back to the wall.

I have bought "Classic" design made to measure covers from you and now need a ready made in the same range - do they match?
The made to measure Classic covers that we do are similar to the imported ones but we would not recommend them to be placed in the same room together – we manufacture our made to measures in our factory and we use a much thicker MDF than the imported ones and there are other subtle differences too which would become apparent if they were placed next to each other (e.g. ours have solid one-piece fronts and the imported covers are jointed). The wood veneers in our made to measure range cannot be matched to those in the imported ready made range and we only offer a sample service for the wood veneer finish in our made to measure range. We can also not guarantee that the satin white finish on the imported covers will be an accurate match for those painted in our own facility.

The made to measure Classic range is closer in design to the ready made Traditional range as both are made here in our own facility and from 18mm MDF and 4mm grilles and are painted using the same paint as the made to measure covers. The only difference is that the ready made Traditional covers have a jointed front panel whereas the Classic made to measures have one piece fronts.

I want a ready made cover but you are only offering plain/primed and I want primed/painted - can you finish ready made covers?
No, our ready made range are pre-made and many are imported and therefore we are unable to offer any sort of finishing services for these covers.

I have received my cover but the size number on the box does not correspond with what is on my order - have you sent me the wrong product?
We stock radiator covers from a huge range of different importers, all of whom have different methods and different ways of sizing their products. However, radiator covers tend to come in 5 standard sizes but are just called different things by different importers (e.g. a size 1 in one range may be the same as a "medium" in another or a size 3 in another range and yet all three may be the same size). To make finding the right cover easier for our customers we have merely provided our own system of sizes 1-5 (mini-XL) which cuts right across all the different importers products for ease of comparison. If you wish to verify that the product is indeed the correct size, simply check that the actual measurements detailed on the box are the same as listed on our website. If you are in any doubt, we will happily clarify for you.

One of my MDF panels has warped slightly whilst painting or after getting damp - what can I do?
Unfortunately, MDF will often warp slightly when exposed to dampness (this can sometimes be due to being exposed to damp air in transit) - it is not the actual dampness that causes this but the uneven drying out i.e. one side drying out quicker than the other and is often more frequently noticed during the damper/colder months when cabinets are subject to more extremes of temperature before assembly (moving from the carrier's warehouse and lorries into centrally heated homes). It is for this reason that we always prime both front and rear sides of our cabinets whilst finishing them as this ensures more even drying and therefore eliminates warping during finishing. This warping is only temporary and will always straighten out once they have completely dried out or once the cabinet is assembled as the fittings pull the parts into place and ensure that the rigidity of the cabinet is maintained and prevents warping being possible.

What are the differences between the different grille designs and grilled/ungrilled cabinets and how do I paint these?
The grilles on all radiator covers are for decorative purposes and are fairly delicate (3mm on imported and 4mm thickness on UK made MDF cabinets or 0.9mm for metal grilles) and with approx 50% airflow. Care should therefore be taken when finishing primed and plain MDF cabinets to ensure not too much pressure is applied during painting/sanding so as to damage the grilles and we would always recommend placing the panels on a flat surface for painting.

The decorative grilles will prevent people from being able to touch the radiator beneath but they will not support any weight or applied pressure. Should you require a more robust front panel (e.g. for areas where children may play etc) then we would reccomend a cabinet without a decorative grille panel (e.g. squares and lines or soft bars) or one with a more robust grille such as New England which utilises a slatted 6mm grille or stars design which has smaller grilled areas.

You will also find that all MDF grille panels are stamped to make the pattern and therefore the edges of these, when viewed close up, are not completely "clean". On finished cabinets you will also find that these inside cut edges of the grille panels will not be completely covered in top coat paint or lacquer etc (it is impossible for spray equipment to reach these areas with anything more than "over-spray") - this is perfectly normal and only visible when viewed close-up  and does not detract from the overall appearance of the cabinet. If however, this is of concern to you then we would suggest only purchasing a cabinet without a grille panel (as detailed above) or with a metal grille panel.

On all UK manufactured cabinets with grilled panels e.g. traditional design, you will find that the grille panels are aligned so that the pattern is in line across all the grille panels. However, with all imported cabinets the grilles are cut to size and positioned in place without aligning the pattern and it is therefore possible that the grille pattern will not follow through from one grille panel to another in cabinets with more than one grille panel. Again, if this is important to you, you should ensure you purchase a UK manufactured cabinet.

Louvre Door Questions

I can't find the size I want - can you make to measure?
No, I'm afraid that we do not produce these doors - they are all imported and are therefore unavailable in a made to measure range. However, there is a small amount of leeway in the louvre doors to enable them to be cut down very slightly on top/bottom - this would have to be carried out by the customer as this is not a service we offer.

What size are the side, top, bottom and centre stiles and how much can I trim?
The gap between the louvres is 3mm if measured at the shortest point but is approx 5-6mm if measured between the edges of the louvres (as they are angled).

The doors do vary slightly but all doors have a side stile width of 45mm from which a max of 20mm each side may be trimmed. The tops have a minimum of 65mm from which a max of 30mm can be trimmed and the bottoms have a minimum stile size of 70mm from which a max of 25mm can be trimmed (although some of the hardwood doors do have a bottom stile of 115mm from which a max of 60mm may be trimmed). All doors of 1500mm height and above have a centre rail for stability. If the size of this rail is important please email us in advance detailing which size(s) you are enquiring about.

Do you supply closed louvres?
No we only sell open louvre doors.

Do you offer a finishing or trimming service for the doors?
We are unable to provide either a trimming or finishing service.

Do you supply finished or painted doors?
No, all our doors are supplied unfinished and ready for you to paint, stain or varnish as required.