When all of the pieces are in place on both sides of the frame, leave it to dry completely. (Just an FYI, this is the back of the vent cover.)Ĭut a small piece of leftover yard stick to use as a guide to ensure that the pieces are positioned flush with the frame. Be sure to press the pieces firmly to the frame so that they don’t “float” on the wood glue and shift. Now use wood glue to place the little dowel pieces at each mark on both sides of the vent frame. As I mentioned above, if your vent will be eye-level or higher, you will probably want to place your slats closer together. For my own vent, I marked 1/2-inch down from the top, and then every 1.5 inches after that. Next take your frame (with the thoroughly and completely dry wood glue), and measure and mark the spacing for the slats. If you have a new blade on your saw, you shouldn’t have this problem. They also turned out a bit rough looking, but as long as one side had a clean cut angle, they were usable. I cut probably twice as many pieces as I needed, because my saw would throw the pieces several feet from my work area, and then I’d have to go hunt for them. This was actually the hardest part of the project simply because my saw needs a new blade. If your vent will be more eye-level or higher, you will probably want to use a 45-degree angle and put the slats closer together than I did on my vent. 😀 I’m still really curious about that 31.62-degree marking though. (What the heck is that angle used for, anyway? It must be important to warrant it’s very own marking on my saw! But 31.62 sounds very odd, and very precise, doesn’t it?)Įdit: LOL…Okay, as I was reading back over these instructions, I realize that I DIDN’T use the 31.62-degree setting. I didn’t want a severe angle because I didn’t want to take a chance at all at blocking the air flow, so I found that this 31.62 angle was idea for my design. You can adjust the angle to the angle you want for your slats. While the frame is drying, take the square dowel rod, and cut the support pieces for the slats of the vent. Use the framing square to be really sure it’s perfectly square, and then leave it alone (resist the urge to touch it, pick it up, or mess with it in any way) until it’s completely dry. When all four pieces are connected, set the frame aside to dry completely. Use two brads from the side, and two brads from the bottom on all four corners. If everything lines up, then use wood glue and a brad nailer to attach the pieces. With the pieces cut, use a framing square to dry fit the pieces to be sure they’ll all line up square on the corners.
Be sure to cut them long enough so that the frame of the vent won’t cover any portion of the air return vent. Next use a miter saw to cut the MDF boards into the four lengths for the frame of your vent. This is actually imprinted into the wood, so sand until all of the markings are all gone, and then sand a bit more just to be really sure all of the imprints are gone. …and use and electric sander to remove all of the markings from one side of the yard stick. Use the “C” clamps to keep them perfectly aligned and set them aside to dry completely. Electric sander with 150-grit sandpaper įirst, take the two MDF boards and glue them back to back.8 wood yard sticks (you might need more or less depending on the size of your vent).1 square dowel rod measuring 1/4″ x 1/4″ x 36″.2 pre-primed MDF boards measuring 1″ x 2″ x 8 feet.So do you want to see how I made my new vent cover? Here are the details… Tools & Supplies: Not too bad! Heck, if I could have found a new metal one that would have fit (and trust me, I’ve looked and looked), it would have cost about $20. But now everything is fresh, new, and updated!Īnd the cost of my new vent cover? About $12.50. So what do you think?! Wait! Before you answer that, let me remind you what this looked like before this little transformation…Įwwwwww!!! So gross!! A little flooding, some messy floor painting, and 35+ years of age on that vent (during which it clearly never once saw a fresh coat of paint) had really wreaked havoc on this area. Yes, I tend to do things a little backwards sometimes.) Oh, and the very messy and ungrouted floor. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with the door. Well, it took a while to get here… one brilliant idea, a DIY fail, a Plan B that never got off the ground, and then a return to the original design…but I’m finished! FINALLY! And I’m pretty darn excited about how my custom made air return vent cover turned out! See for yourself (and please disregard the door.
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