One of my favorite "rooms" in my little house is a sun porch. Just off the kitchen on the driveway side, it provides our daily in-and-out door as well as a much-needed retreat space for me. When I bought the house, the previous owners had already installed the screens on the windows and they were painted to match the trim. Later that fall, when it was time to install the storms, I was dismayed to find them peeling several colors of previous-owner-paint-schemes (turquoise teal and burgundy pink the most prominent). Glaring against the butter yellow and cream house, they were an eyesore to say the least.
It took me several years, but this fall I resolved to repaint the storms and treat myself to a better view for the long Wisconsin winter (sad to say storms will be installed from October through late May).
A few things made the job easier:
1. Create a workspace: My friend Mike came up with this brilliant solution -- two bar stools and two landscape timbers. It was the perfect height for me to paint without fatigue and I could set up two at a time. Trash bags over the stools and a drop cloth kept spills at bay; I am a messy painter.
2. Invest in the right tools. I found this unusual 1-Inch Square Paint Brush
at Home Depot. It made painting the mullions (muntins?) a breeze. I also have been a long-time fan of Behr paint and the Ultra Satin Exterior did not disappoint.3. Tape or Scrape? I tried the first two with tape. It was tedious to apply, but left a crisp edge. My only problem was that I was covering several coats done by previous "messy" painters -- the tape left some of the old overlaps showing. For the next two windows, I painted at will and when the paint was dry I scraped the glass. The total time spent was about the same, but the second method let me cover the old mistakes with new paint. If you are painting brand new windows, I would say tape them first. If you're going for a second or third update, I recommend scraping with a razor blade.
The final result:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment