How to Paint a Window

You can save yourself a decent amount of money if you do your own painting. Keep the number of a painter in your back pocket if it starts to feel like it’s too much. I tried painting our picket fence 2 summers ago. It took me about 2 hours to paint one section—I did a quick calculation and realized that at that rate I’d be painting all summer. I put the paint away and called the professional. It has been the only time (as far as painting goes) that I have conceded defeat and hired out the work. Painting takes time but it’s something that you can stop and start over later in the day (or week). The paint color will look different when one section is wet and one is dry—don’t worry, it will all dry the same color.

Two windows in my kitchen are several years old. You can check the age of a window by looking at the corner of the windowpane. It will be engraved on the glass; the company that made the window, window model number, and the date the window was made. One of my windows had a broken sash lift and I was able to call Anderson Windows™ directly and give them the information from the corner and get a new sash lift sent to my house. Took all of 3 minutes and it arrived about a week later—just in time for me to finish taping the windows.

The double hung windows in the kitchen were left as wood—they had possibly been stained or lacquered by the previous owners but it had been quite some time and they were mostly looking like dried out old wood windows. I wanted to spruce them up since the entire house will wind up with new windows once this extension is done. I decided to paint the trim and sashes of the windows.

I’m not a big painter’s tape person (masking tape works too). I’m really basically a lazy person—putting up tape is one more step that I’d rather skip. So I prefer, normally, to just paint and touch up mistakes at the end. I should mention that I played piano for several years and I do a good deal of decorative painting now. (My hands are steady and I can use both the left and right without much difficulty). However, when it comes to windows, I use tape. The wood is smaller and has more details. It’s a good idea to make sure you’re not painting the windows shut, so taping over the groves that window glides on is a good idea.

A tedious but worth it task is removing the sash lift (handle) and sash locks. They are just attached with 4 small screws. All you need is a screwdriver. You can paint the whole window and then put the hardware back on—it will give it a nicer finish and you won’t have to worry about hitting the hardware with paint.

When you’re using tape, you have to be sure to take the tape off while the paint is still wet. Once you do, you’ll notice that some paint has likely seeped through the tape. That’s one of the reasons it’s good to take it off while still wet. Take a damp paper towel and run it along the edge to wipe the wet paint off. It will come off with ease and give you a nice finish.

(right after removing tape)

(paint comes off easily with damp paper towel)

Use a Styrofoam plate under the can to capture little paint drips from the side of the can. It’s also a nice spot to lay your brush down when you get disturbed by a ringing phone or children begging for food and drink. The standard sized plates hold the quarts or gallon cans nicely.

One of my windows was over the sink. It’s kind of back breaking to reach over the sink while taping and painting. So, I had my husband Dave cut me a piece of old plywood that I could lay across the sink. That allowed me to have a small platform to stand/sit on while working and getting nice and close to the window.

Got any paint tips you'd like to share? Let me know!