People don’t need to be geniuses to figure out, after just a glance at their new sash windows, that painting them is uniquely challenging. The windows not only come with the same problems in painting as with standard windows, but also with pesky mullions to be attended to – and they are often by the dozen. Mullions are small added frames, which keep the smaller panes in their places and in some cases, they come on top of the glass, creating the illusion of smaller frames. In all cases, with more surface area to paint, you should arm yourself with tips and tricks from experts before starting. It will make painting much less painful!
You can’t realistically expect to find pleasure in painting sash windows, but don’t just conclude you can’t make it much painless than you might think.
Read the overview of some examples below before getting started:
Step by Step
First of all, follow a key rule at all times: never attempt to deal with the whole job at once. If you take the whole work in one go, you up your chances of coming a cropper. Rather than that, be sure to plan well ahead so that you have enough time for each window, one by one, and can devote the necessary attention to it. Rushing from window to window, to have things done the fastest possible way never yields anything positive.
Looking At the Sash Window Layers
The very nature of sash windows and the way in which their panels slide against each other can pose problems, because as soon as you have added some paint coats, things can jam up. That is why be sure to look closely at the state the panels are currently in and see if you have room for maneuvering or not. If there is really no room for that, think about fully stripping before you arm yourself with the paintbrush and start painting.
From Corner to Corner
If you’re a right-handed person, be sure not to make a serious mistake. Most right-handed people fall into the trap of starting toward the window’s right-hand side, or start from the bottom and proceed to the top. As a right-handed person, keep in mind that naturally your hand and wrist will fall in, so it will be easier if you start from the upper-left corner and go toward the bottom-left. NEVER go the other way round. But if you are left-handed, it might be easier for you to start from the upper-right corner and go down. Generally, it is a matter of personal preference.
Don’t Sweat Over Small Stuff
When you start painting dozens of millionsaround the whole house, be realistic – it is natural to see specks of paint on some panes, it’s just inevitable. So it’s not a good idea to get overly bogged down and go with painful precision, stopping each time that you see a paint speck on a spot where there’s supposed to be no paint. There’s a fantastic thing about glass – just arm yourself with a razor blade and when you see a spot, wait for the paint to dry up and do a quick scrape. It will be gone without a trace. Keeping that in mind, don’t sweat over the small stuff on the way – you can easily tackle it later, after you have finished painting.
Leave Not Just Plenty of Time, But Some More After That
The most depressing thing in the world is to see the paint peel off and get smudged into oblivion with the first movement of the panels of your wonderful sash windows. Unfortunately, it happens very often, and the reason is only impatience. Please note that the paint needs quite long to dry properly. You will naturally be desperate to lay the next coat on, but if you ignore the recommendations coming with the paint of your choice, you risk seeing all the efforts you put in go to waste. So be sure to leave a lot of extra time, and then a little more in addition.
Turn to the Pros
The last but certainly not the least important is to remember the most relaxing and joyful way of getting your sash windows painted – calling the pros and leaving the work to them. Think about the whole amount of equipment that you’ll need, the time that you will have to spend, and the stress of doing the job on your own. The professional option doesn’t at all seem bad value for money, and the results will certainly make you proud.