Painting casement windows

Before painting wooden casement windows, they need to be prepared as explained on our "Preparing wooden doors and windows for painting" page.

The following guidelines apply when applying Primer, Undercoat or Topcoat (or a combined paint). After applying Primer or Undercoat, the surface should be lightly rubbed down using a fine glass paper (at least 240 grade) to remove any dust etc which may have been attracted to the paint - do not rub so hard that the wood grain is exposed.

Painting a casement window can seem an awkward task as there are lots of small areas of timber. The description below refers to painting the interior of casement windows, a similar process is followed for external painting, it is easiest to do this at a separate time especially if painting windows above ground level.

If you find it difficult to paint a neat edge onto the glass (Primer and Undercoat should not go onto the glass, Topcoat should lap onto the glass by a small amount (1 or 2 mm)), the glass can be protected using masking tape. Make sure that any masking tape is pressed firmly onto the glass (otherwise paint may creep under the edge) and that it is removed before the paint is fully dried (otherwise removing it may lift the paint). Alternatively, use a piece of straight edged strip against the glass as you paint to protect it - such shields are available from DIY stores but a 'home made' shield of just a strip of stiffish plastic will do just as well. If you do get paint on the glass, leave it until it dries and then scrap it off.

Start by opening the casements and painting them.

Using a fairly small paint brush (12 to 25mm (½ - 1 inch)), start by painting each of the opening casements (1 to 4, 5 to 8). The areas being painted tend to be fairly small, so do not pick up too much paint on the brush and spread it out well. Paint the side of the rails where they met the glass; Primer and Undercoat should be kept off the glass (as they will flake off with time), topcoat should overlap by 1 or 2 mm onto the glass to seal the joint.

If there are cross bars on the frame, paint these next (9), followed by any uprights (10).

Finally paint the main outer frame (11, 12, 13 and 14).

Leave the casements in the open position until the paint has dried.