Nail holes and gaps
The window trim or casing around the window will need to be spackled and caulked. Use a water-based shrink free spackle (SW C-99 Shrink-Free Spackling or something similar) to fill the nail holes, and caulk gaps in the miter joints and elsewhere with an acrylic caulk. Allow this to dry before priming.
Painting the window - in place
Normally you don’t remove a double hung window to paint it, they are painted in place inside the window framing. Most manufacturers don’t want the part of the window that makes contact with the jamb liner (or tract) to be painted, as it will cause the window to stick. Check the manufacturer’s instructions that came with the window for specific guidance with your own windows as it pertains to this.
Painting sequence
In order to access all parts of the window, the double hung window is painted in two ‘stages”.
In the first stage the top window is dropped down an inch or two from the top shut position. The bottom window is opened up an inch or two from the bottom. Everything that can be painted in this position is painted first, before proceeding to stage two.
In the second stage, you will move the top window down almost all the way to the bottom and the bottom window almost all the way to the top. Reversing the window position as such will allow you to paint the remainder of each window which was not accessible in the first stage positioning.
Applicators
Most of the time you will be painting windows with a brush. In some new construction situations a professional painter will spray the windows, but for this article we will address brush painting of the windows.
Use a 2” sash brush (either angled or flat sash) for window painting. A black china bristle brush should be used with oil primers and paints. A nylon or nylon/polyester blend should be used for latex primers and paints.
Priming
If the new window is un-primed you will need to start with a primer. The job of the primer is to penetrate into the wood to provide a good anchor and adhesion to the wood as well as to seal the porosity of the wood.
My favorite primers for new windows is either an oil based primer like Zinsser’s Coverstain or a good waterbased primer like XIM’s UMA. Oil primer will seal the wood better and will not raise the wood grain. A water based primer will not seal as well, but will clean up with water.
Sanding
Once the primer is dry you will sand it lightly. Avoid hitting the window glass with the sandpaper (it should be taped off with painter’s tape around the perimeter). Vacuum to remove any sanding dust, or wipe the surface with a micro fiber tack cloth.
Enamel
Use either a latex or oil enamel as your finish paint. Paint the window in two phases, the same way that the priming was done.
Allow the paint to dry before shutting the windows completely.
Free-up stuck windows with a putty knife
If the windows are stuck, you can free them up by inserting a thin blade putty knife between the window and the jamb liner and carefully moving the blade down the length of the track to free up the window.
Related Articles: How to Paint Wood Trim with Enamel
Remove hardware
Remove the window locks and other hardware and put them into an empty bucket or container so you don’t lose anything. What you can’t remove, can be masked off with painter’s tape. Don’t mask off the liner or tract, as you will need to move the window up and down in the painting process. Keep the paint off the tract by using a steady hand and painting with care.
Stage two: Reverse the windows to paint the remainder of the window.
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Painting New Double Hung Wood Windows
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Painting the Interior Side of the Window
Mask off the glass
The first thing you should do is tape off the glass around the perimeter of the window to protect the glass from scratching if your sanding gets a little careless. It is better to bump the tape with the sandpaper than it is to bump the glass. Use long masking blue painter’s tape which will not leave a residue on the glass if you need to leave it on for a couple of days.
You won’t need to sand the new wood (you will need to lightly sand prior to painting) if you are priming and painting the windows.
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