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Thread: Need advice for masking windows

  1. #1
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    Need advice for masking windows

    I'm getting ready to stain and varnish my new windows.

    I want to take the sashes out and do them laying down.

    Problem I'm having is how to mask the panes so I don't get any stain or varnish on the glass.

    Thought about Frog Tape but it gives me a headache thinking of all the tape to put on perfectly.

    I'm using a gel stain and waterborne varnish.

    Any advice would be appreciated.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  2. #2
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    Be careful and scrape off any you get on the glass.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  3. #3
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    When I have a bunch to do, I cobble together an easel with two sides. One side holds the sash low enough so the highest muntins are a comfortable height, and the other side holds it higher to catch the others at a comfortable height. No bending over, and reaching across. A quick turn of the sash makes it so every one is painted horizontally. You get good at it pretty quickly, and I would trim off any misses, rather than take the excruciating amount of time it would take to mask them.

    I wouldn't use a gel stain, but one that would work with a thin sash brush.

    I have a helper to turn the sash, so I don't have to put the brush down, and it goes pretty quickly.
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  4. #4
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    On This Old House the painter showed a liquid product that went on kind of like roll-on deodorant. It tried to a film. After painting was done, the film scraped up very easily, almost like pulling off painter's tape. Sorry I don't recall what the name of the product was.
    It's called golf because all the other 4-letter words were taken

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Bundy View Post
    On This Old House the painter showed a liquid product that went on kind of like roll-on deodorant. It tried to a film. After painting was done, the film scraped up very easily, almost like pulling off painter's tape. Sorry I don't recall what the name of the product was.
    I used a similar product when we built the house back in 1988. I think it may have been made by Wagner.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    When I have a bunch to do, I cobble together an easel with two sides. One side holds the sash low enough so the highest muntins are a comfortable height, and the other side holds it higher to catch the others at a comfortable height. No bending over, and reaching across. A quick turn of the sash makes it so every one is painted horizontally. You get good at it pretty quickly, and I would trim off any misses, rather than take the excruciating amount of time it would take to mask them.

    I wouldn't use a gel stain, but one that would work with a thin sash brush.





    I have a helper to turn the sash, so I don't have to put the brush down, and it goes pretty quickly.
    I saw your easels when I did a search for "windows" hoping for some masking ideas. In don''t have any muntins to do just the sashes on casements and the jambs.

    I'm using gel stain because it's what the manufacturer recommends. I'm guessing they recommend gel stain because the windows are fiberglass with a stainable finish.
    Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation

  7. #7
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    Here's the stuff that the painter on This Old House and Ask This Old House used on one of the programs. I bought some and plan on using it this summer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  8. #8
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    I looked at that masking liquid. It serves as a primer on porous surfaces, but wouldn't trust it on Jerry's fiberglass windows. I'm not sure how much I would trust it on wood, since it can be peeled off of slick surfaces.

    I can see why they would call for a gel stain on fiberglass.

    It's not that hard to cut in with a brush. I don't dip the end of the brush in, but pick up by touching one side of the brush to the surface of the finish/paint. Don't wipe the brush on the side of the container (I never understood that for anything). You do have to get a feel for how much is the right amount, but it's not That Hard of a skill to learn.

    If you get too much on any spot, just trim it off after it sets. I find a super sharp chisel easier to do this with than a single edge razor blade. For me, a thin 2-1/2" sash brush is the right size, but larger may be better for large panes of glass.

  9. #9
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    The remodeling contractor we hired used the masking liquid to do our windows. The painter was not as good/careful as I would have liked, and he masked some of the areas that should have received paint. It would have been easy for me to scrape a bit of paint off the glass. It is more work to paint the areas he mistakenly masked off. I'd paint carefully and clean up after.

  10. #10
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    Jon, That's exactly what I expected to happen. If you need that stuff, you don't need to be painting windows, and doors.

  11. #11
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    I used to spend a lot of time masking. The last couple of windows I have done I just painted, then scraped the glass with a sharp razor blade. I can scrape a lot faster than I can tape accurately.
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  12. #12
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    It's faster, and easier still to use a sharp chisel, than a razor blade, and especially if you can get the chisel way sharper than a single edged razor blade. Easier on fingers holding the tool too. I keep an old Stanley chisel just for the purpose. The steel is nothing fancy, designed to last a long time cutting wood like some of the more expensive modern chisels, but you can get it Really sharp quickly.

  13. #13
    I would use a quality 1 1/2” angled brush, no tape, work carefully top to bottom and left to right. Assuming yo r right handed. Then clean off the problems with razor or sharp chisel.
    my 2 pennies.

    Ron

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    It's faster, and easier still to use a sharp chisel, than a razor blade, and especially if you can get the chisel way sharper than a single edged razor blade. Easier on fingers holding the tool too. I keep an old Stanley chisel just for the purpose. The steel is nothing fancy, designed to last a long time cutting wood like some of the more expensive modern chisels, but you can get it Really sharp quickly.
    https://smile.amazon.com/Stanley-28-...dp/B0006JJS30/
    RazorBladeHolder.jpg
    "Live like no one else, so later, you can LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE!"
    - Dave Ramsey

  15. #15
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    I have all sorts of those things. I still prefer a chisel. This picture is trimming bedding caulking.
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