How to repair and repaint the window frames?

Question

The house we are in has these rather old timber window frames, skirting boards and internal doors. Window frames in particular are really showing their age, with patchy remains of what looks like old varnish here and there, and making the rest of the house look much older than it really is. The plan is to sand, patch any holes and cracks, sand again, and paint nice clean white - windows, skirting boards and internal doors, so quite a bit there. Is that a done thing, or do people tend to replace instead? - not that I have the budget, so hoping to do with the painting. And What are the best products to use to get a good and lasting result? Thank you!

Masque · Answer

Thank you so much Jacob - exactly what I was after! I feel as equipped as I ever will be to tackle this 🙂 will get the supplies and start with the smallest window for my practice run!

JacobZ · Answer

Hi @Masque,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

You might like to start by having a look at How To Paint Over Varnished Timber as it details more or less everything you need for this project.

The process you have described of sanding, patching holes, sanding again, then priming and painting is exactly what needs to be done. There is no real need to replace anything.

As per the guide, start by giving everything a clean with a sponge and some warm soapy water, allow it to dry then sand with some 180-grit sandpaper.

Once you have given everything a sand, wipe it down to remove any sawdust, then fill any cracks or gaps with a filler. As you are planning to paint everything white, there is no need to use a coloured filler, so something like this UNi-PRO Multi Purpose Interior Filler would be fine.

After applying your filler and allowing it to dry, go back over everything with some 240-grit sandpaper to smooth it out and prepare it for painting. Again, wipe it down to remove any sanding dust.

After this, apply a quality primer such as Zinsser Bulls Eye Primer. It is really important that you use a quality primer as this will ensure the paint bonds properly and lasts long term.

You should then use 2 coats of a quality enamel paint in a colour and finish of your choosing. Something like Dulux Aquanamel Semi Gloss is usually a good choice for things like doors and trims. Being semi-gloss, it will make them a little bit shiny, but not overbearing, which tends to look nice against more flat paints which are used on walls and ceilings.

You might like to check out How To Paint a Door and How to paint trims for some further guidance.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob