Casement windows - painting

Wooden casement windows need to be prepared for painting as detailed on the "Preparing wooden doors and windows for painting" page.

One problem when painting casement windows is to know the painting sequence, the sequence outlined below will make the job easier as once an area is painted, it won't get in the way.

The sequence details painting the interior of a casement window, the sequence is similar when painting the external - normally it is easier to paint the exterior at a different time than painting the interior.

The same sequence applies for each coat of paint - i.e. the primer, undercoat and topcoat.

Before overpainting any of the base coats, the surface of the dried paint needs to be given a light rubbing down with a fine (at least 240 grade) glass paper to remove any dust etc from the surface of the paint.

Primer and Undercoat be kept off the glass as they won't adhere, but the Topcoat should overlap lap onto it by a small amount (1 or 2 mm to seal the frame to the glass.

A steady hand is required to do this with just a brush but masking tape can be fixed to the glass while applying the primer and undercoat to make this easier. If using masking tape, make sure that it is firmly pressed on to the glass as otherwise the paint may creep underneath it.

Remove any tape before the paint has fully dried to avoid lifting any paint. An alternatively for keeping the paint off of the glass is to hold a piece of thin plastic with a straight edge against the glass as you paint to mask the glass. If you do get primer or undercoat on the glass, let it dry and then scrap it off.

Painting the casements

Begin by opening the casements.

Use a fairly small paint brush (12 to 25mm (½ - 1 inch)), don't pick up too much paint at a time as the areas being painted are fairly small.

Start by painting each of the opening casements in the order given (1 to 4, 5 to 8). Firstly paint the side of each part where it adjoins the glass first and then the outside of the piece, and finish with the side which faces the room.

Painting the frame

When all the opening casements have been painted, move on to the main frame - paint any cross bars (9) first, then paint any upright bars (10) and finish off with the main outer frame (11, 12, 13 and 14).

Paint each part in the same order as the casements - i.e. firstly the side of each part where it adjoins the glass first and then, around the casements, the outside of the piece, and finish with the side which faces the room.

Do not close the opening casements until the paint has dried, if possible, keep the casements slightly open for as long as possible - if they are closed too soon, the paint on the casement and frame will become stuck together making opening the casement difficult or impossible.