Clad a pillar - Tips?

[Gustaf.P]

I have a rather ugly steel pillar in my basement. Currently, it is covered with painted fiberglass fabric, but I think it feels a bit dull.

How would you handle this? I'm considering gluing some MDF or something similar, but it would be a lot of fine-tuning. Are there smarter solutions?

 

[Unikt namn]

Putty?
Or do you want it to feel rougher?

 

[Gustaf.P]

Putty?
Or do you want it to feel coarser?

I'm too bad at puttying, so I'd rather skip that
Not necessarily bigger, but maybe a bit more neat.
It can't build up too much as both the staircase railing and the connection up to the ceiling don't allow it.

 

[Unikt namn]

I agree that weave looks dull, but it's a bit unclear to me what you mean by neat. Is it a smooth painted surface?

I am convinced that it's easier to achieve an okay finish with putty than to get 2.4-meter long MDF/wood pieces to perfectly align around a post without needing putty.
Of course, I could be wrong.

It's just a matter of repeatedly applying putty and sanding until you're satisfied.
Remember to apply it in thin layers.

It's also possible to simply sand off the weave with coarse paper and paint directly on the steel pillar.

 

[z_bumbi]

I would remove the webbing and then paint the post and the visible beam in some fun color. The alternative is to paint leaf vines and then cover it with climbing plants (real or plastic).