Get the latest news and information from us. Join our newsletter!
My wooden doublehung sash windows were painted shut (long ago). How do I go about unsticking them?
It's your basic old house -- wooden window sashes & wooden frames, and 3 to 6 layers of paint on everything. Someone got lazy (I guess) and painted the upper sashes to the frames. I'd like to unstick them so that the top sash can be pulled down in this hot weather. Have you ever done this?
Thanks for reading!
Answer: If you,ve that much paint on them then no razor blade is going to unstick them. You'll have to go between the sash (thats the frame holding the glass) and the parting beade with a sturdy paint scraper, all the way down both sides. You'd be best taking them out altogether and strip all the paint off, replace the parting beade ( you'll get some at a DIY shop) . It's pretty straight forward how they work, just take note as you take them out and put them back in reverse order. It can take a while on your first attempt so start EARLY in the day to give yourself plenty time to get it back in place before nightfall. It's a great sence of achievment when you renovate one sucessfully. Give it a go!
