Sash window restoration

[wobblyman]

Hello !

I'm kinda new to the hole woodworking game. The last time I seriously touched anything like this was at high school.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I've got a double hung sash window that needs to be repainted. I had to replace the cords which I've done and half put it back together. I've stripped of most of the paint with a heat gun on the inside side of the window, and part of the frame where it was badly painted about a thousand times.

My question is, do I need to go right back to the bare timber before I start to repaint it. I have tins of the orginal paint that was used on the window, and it will be the same colour. I've not taken out the glass or removed the paint on the timeber holding the glass in - this doesn't look too bad. It is mainly the sides of the window, and the windows frame itself on the inside. I've taken most of the paint off, and hit it with a fine orbital sander to make it nice and smooth. It will be painted in a colour, so I'm not going to apply anything clear to it. How far back do I need to take it ?

The inside frame of the window is quite bad as well. The heat gun didin't take off as much as I'd like here, and I think I'll have to use some paint stripper. Sanding indoors too - with an electric sander - what do you normally do to stop dust going everywhere - just cover everything with a drop sheet ?

Once it is all sanded - and right back to the timber if need be - how do I paint it ? Do I just put the colour back on it, or is there something I need to paint onto it first ?

Any help would be greatly appreaciated. I've got about 3 other windows like this, that will eventually need the same treatment.

Thanks,

G

[Tung tied]

Hi Wobbly..

If you are going to repaint in opaque colour then remove the loose and flaky paint followed by sanding the remaining good paint to rough it up to give the new paint something to stick to.

You can get a smoother finish if you take it down to bare new timber but it can be a fair bit of work getting all the paint out of the corners and mouldings.

Use a good undercoat and the topcoats should be fresh paint if you want to get the maximum life out of it. Paint goes off in the tin over a couple of years.

Drop sheets work for the dust and using a sander with a dust collector or vacuum attachment is even better. If you are sanding in one room at a time hang a drop sheet up over the doorway as well. This will help dust getting under the door due to draughts etc. Don't forget a decent dust mask for yourself.

Cheers

Bryan

[fly2hi]

I grew up in a 1920's house with sash windows and dad made us do the painting & decorating from about 12 years old. After a while we stopped painting the sides of the windows and the tracks in the frame, just oiled them. If you can get all the old paint off it looks ok, could even stain them. Trouble with painting them is that..too thick and the windows will stick, too thin and they will rattle in the breeze.
Having a pedestal fan (tenner from bunnings) on full speed blowing out the window will get rid of most of the dust while you work. If your neighbours fence is only 3 feet away, that can either be a good thing...or not