How to decorate untiled patch behind new bathroom radiator without removing it?

[Dumdidums]

My bathroom is decorated with tiles and this week i decided to replace the radiator however it appears that the area behind the radiator was not tiled. I did not know this until the plumber began to put the new radiator in . I told him to continue because he was going to charge me regardless of whither or not he did any work. Now there is an undecorated untiled area behind the new radiator.

Can you suggest any ideas of how i can decorate this without having to remove the radiator again as the plumber was not cheap

If you can find tiles that match you could probably tile the gap, it would just be a bit fiddly having to apply the adhesive and slide the tiles in from the side.

The tiling was done before i moved in and i have tried looking but cant find anything .

It’s not that difficult to take the radiator off.

As a temporary fix I would get a piece of plywood that’s the same size of the tiles behind the radiator slightly overlapping the missing tiles, paint it in black gloss paint and stick it over the area - you should be able to slide it behind the radiator easily. Make sure you paint the sides of the board too!

In the meantime could you paint the gap black? I’d have to fix it properly as it would be all I’d see when I went in the bathroom

Just take the radiator off- it isn’t hard!

this is absolutely mind boggling to me that the tiler didn’t ask for it to be removed

bring him back!

i was told by a tiler that only a qualified plumber should remove the radiator

That's because he didn't want to do it. 😡

Did you read the OPs post? The tiles are very old, then a radiator was fitted over them (presumably a panel radiator hence the missing tiles) and now she has had the old radiator replaced and is unable to find matching tiles!

there is definitely a tiler in this story who has pretended that moving the radiator is faff! Op has said so

OP has said no such thing. What she did say is

"i was told by a tiler that only a qualified plumber should remove the radiator"

Are the tiles black or dark blue? What size are they incms/mms?

As @Soontobe60says, mdf or marine ply cut to the right size. Paint gloss black to match tiles. Then slide it into place. That is a temporary fix but cheap and can be done in an afternoon.

See if you can find a decent same sized same colour tile and stick it on, if you can get a hand behind it (and for grouting too).

Fiddly but nothing difficult technically.

Sorry to say that that is the kind of thing I'd live with until.i wanted to sell the house. Well done for wanting to tackle it OP!

have you been up in the loft or out in the shed where the previous owner may have left a pile of spare tiles?

You can buy chrome panels to go behind radiators to reflect the heat, would look better than that.

People take radiators off the wall everyday, because they want to paint or put wallpaper behind them. Yes you might need to be a bit nifty with a tupperware box once you've turned the valves off and cracked a joint to drain it, but it's not difficult. In my last house I took several radiators off so the blown plaster behind them could be replaced. No "qualified plumber", if such a thing exists was involved.

A decent handyperson can take the radiator off and refit if later, you dont need a plumber.
But see if you can identify the tiles first.
Measure and take photos and do some detective work?