How to Paint Window Frames

Learn how to paint window sash and door frames; includes details on masking off glass and removing excess paint on glass.

One of the most time-consuming and often frustrating parts of doing a paint job is dealing with windowpanes. The question often is: do you spend time up front putting tape on the windows so you don't get so much paint on the glass, or do you go ahead and paint and then scrape off the dried stuff afterward? In this workshop segment, Ron demonstrated the best techniques for doing each. He then leaves it up to his viewers to decide which method is preferred. View the video of this project

1. Taping method For the taping method, Ron gathered some 1 ½" wide masking tape, a putty knife (about 2 - 2 ½" wide), and a file to sharpen the putty knife.

Ron laid the putty knife on the edge of his workbench, held the file in his other hand, and then passed it over the edge of the knife. After a few passes, Ron turned the putty knife over and then did the same to the other side.

Ron tore off four pieces of masking tape, each a little longer than needed. He put the first piece of tape on the top of the pane and put the second piece at the bottom.

He used the putty knife to cut each piece of tape a little short on each end.

Ron took the remaining pieces and positioned them down either side of the pane making sure that the tape was right up to the edge.

Once again Ron took the putty knife, placed it right up into the corner, and tore the tape it off cleanly. When he was finished taping off the entire section, he said he had done it about as quickly and accurately as he reasonably could have.

Now Ron was ready for painting the windows both with tape…

…and without.

2. Clean up - no tape After the paint dried, it was time to clean up. Ron began with one of the windows that he hadn't taped. He would use a razorblade to get the paint off, but first he made a single cut right where the glass met the wood frame.

He used a small holder for a single-edge razor blade to make grasping the blade and keeping it at the correct angle easier.

Placing the blade's edge at an angle against the glass, Ron worked at peeling the paint back. The cut he had made at the edge of the wood helped the paint to break away more cleanly. The scraping worked pretty well but it took quite a while to get the paint off the glass.

3. Clean-up - with tape Next, it was time to put the tape method to the test. Before he peeled the tape off, he used a breakaway knife to cut around the edge. He wanted to cut through the paint seal between the edge of the tape and the window frame.

Ron was now ready to begin peeling the tape off.

RESULTS: Ron put the question to his viewers: which method was the easiest? On one hand, he spent a fair amount of time putting the tape on the glass, but it was probably less time than he spent scraping the dried paint off the glass. Another bonus to the tape method was that he didn't have to be quite as careful. Although there is no right or wrong, the tape method earned Ron's vote in the end. The nice thing about it is…there is always a choice.