Painting rusted metal windows takes time and patience. If you do it right, it will last a long time.
Painting old metal window frames that are rusted and stuck with decades-old glaze is not for the faint of heart, but can be done.
Mary from Magnolia Springs, Ala., lives in her grandparents’ 1941 home and needs advice on painting the metal cranking windows in the home.
Before painting metal windows, you need to remove the aging caulk. (Photo courtesy of Mary)
Remove Old Glaze
First, you need to start by removing as much of that old glaze on the metal window frames as you can. The good thing about working on metal rather than wood is you can be relatively aggressive when removing the glaze. Use a Dremel tool with an abrasive end to get the old glaze off.
To remove the glaze in the inner corners closest to the window glass, use a small disc grinder. Be sure to wear a full face mask and a respirator. Because of the age of the windows, you never know if there is a risk of you being exposed to lead in the original glaze.
You can also steam the metal window frames with a wallpaper steamer or regular steamer to soften up the glaze. This will take several minutes, but you should be able to remove a good bit with a putty knife afterward. Intact glazing that is not badly cracked can be left behind.
A fresh coat of glaze on metal windows will give you an even surface for painting.
Apply Fresh Glaze
Next, you need to prep your metal window frames for painting. Find some window glaze that comes in a tube with a square nozzle. This will make it easier and cleaner to apply to the metal closest to the windows than dipping the glass from a can and using a brush. DAP makes latex window glazing with this kind of nozzle that is paintable and weather-resistant.
Another trick when applying tubed glaze is to make sure the container is nice and warm. All you need to do is store it in your home to make sure it’s at least 70 to 80 degrees. This will make squeezing the thick glaze out of the tube easier.
Once you have the innermost lines of your window glazed, spread the rest of the metal frame with DAP 33 Window Glaze with a putty knife to even out the surface for painting.
Attention to detail is a must, so this step in painting the metal window frames will take some time.
Oil-based, rust-resistant primer will keep your metal windows looking fresh.
Prime and Paint
Next, you will need to prime the metal window frames for painting. Use an oil-based, rust-resistant primer. oil-based paint as well because it provides a smooth surface and can be used to cover up any existing flaws
For your top coat, use 100-percent acrylic paint.
If you’re diligent and follow these steps, the repair project will last a long time.
Skip to [30:53]for the full segment on the Today’s Homeowner Podcast.
Also on this episode:
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Simple Solutions
Sawhorse Saddle — To prevent sawhorses from scratching up finished pieces, such as a painted door or cabinet, try covering the sawhorses with pool noodles. Use a serrated bread knife to cut a pool noodle about an inch longer than the horizontal rail on each sawhorse. Next, cut a slit along the length of the noodles with a utility knife. Then, slip one pool noodle onto the rail of each sawhorse. The soft pool noodle grips on tightly and will protect workpieces from dings, dents and scratches. And when you’re done, simply pop off the pool noodles and you’re back to a pair of standard wooden sawhorses.
Tarp Tie-Down — To prevent plastic tarps from being blown away, try this trick: Fill a few one-liter plastic bottles with sand or water, then tie one bottle to each corner of the tarp, and one or two in between on larger tarps. The weighted bottles will hold the tarp securely place.
Question of the Week
Q: How is a hybrid water heater different from a regular water heater?
A: A hybrid water heater is an electric water heater equipped with a heat pump. The pump captures heat from room air and transfers it to the cold water entering the water heater. This system makes it so the water heater element doesn’t have to work as hard and, therefore, uses less energy.
Other Products and Links Mentioned
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Whether you are remodeling and putting in new screen doors or repairing your current doors, there are so many mesh options on the market today — it can be overwhelming trying to determine the best material for your project.
Where do I start?
The good news is, by asking that question, you’ve already started. Here’s a handy checklist to assist you in your decision-making process
How important is maintaining aesthetics and your view of the outside?
What safety concerns do you have?
What size mesh will you need?
Consider your geographical location
Common species of insects in your area
What type, quality and color of mesh material will you need?
Aesthetics and View
In settings where screen doors are installed, consider not only keeping insects out but also creating, enhancing and/or preserving the view to the outside. In most cases, especially in peoples’ homes, choosing a mesh that is as invisible as possible is the first priority.
Then there is the ventilation factor. In locations where conventional swinging screen doors are an aesthetic challenge, such as the main entry, Retractable Screen Doors (RSDs) are a serious option for homeowners to consider. The rapid growth in popularity of RSDs is directly related to the increase in energy-efficient homes where natural ventilation is at a premium.
Often, the main entry door is frequently the only source of fresh air on a particular side of a home; so the only way to get good cross ventilation is to open the front door. RSDs are an affordable, practical and high-curb-appeal alternative to swinging screen doors.
Safety concerns
Screen doors, by design, keep bugs from getting inside, but they can only perform that function if the screen material is 100% intact.
Most of us don’t give any thought to the safety aspect of our screen doors until there’s a specific need to. That said, screen door accidents are an extremely common occurrence. People and pets walk into and through screen doors all the time. If you need proof, just Google “screen door accidents” or “people walking through screen doors” to see for yourself.
There is one screen mesh product that has addressed these safety concerns in a very unique and innovative way. It’s called VISISCREEN®. It has a patented density marker designed and woven into the screen door mesh that remains invisible at safe distances but becomes visible as you approach it, thus preventing common screen door accidents such as walk-throughs.
It’s manufactured by Seattle-based Aedes Technologies, aptly named for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for the spread of the Zika Virus, Malaria, Yellow Fever and other diseases.
Interestingly, Genius Retractable Screens Systems, a leading retractable screen door manufacturer, is introducing a version of its Milano series that comes with the VISISCREEN mesh installed. You can learn more about it at visiscreendoors.com.
Mesh size
Screen mesh size is determined by the number of openings per square inch of mesh. For example, a number 4 mesh will have 4 openings per square inch; a number 16 mesh will have 16 openings per square inch. For screen doors, standard 18 x 16 mesh with a .011 diameter (wire thickness) is typically recommended to keep out common insects.
In areas such as Florida, known for no-see-ums and other tiny insects, 20 x 20 mesh with a .013 diameter is more effective at keeping bugs out, but doesn’t perform as well as standard mesh when it comes to light transmission and ventilation.
Material considerations
Vinyl-coated fiberglass mesh is the preferred industry standard for screen doors (and windows). It’s easy to install, durable and affordable. Your color options are charcoal and gray.
Another material option is aluminum wire. Apples to apples, aluminum wire is slightly more durable than fiberglass mesh and is available in charcoal, black and silver. Otherwise, there’s nothing substantially different between the two.
In fact, vinyl-coated fiberglass mesh outsells aluminum 3 to 1, as it’s about half the cost. There are additional specialty material options including Bettervue, UltraVue, Super Screen and Pet Screen.
Choosing the right screen mesh for your screen door project can be a challenging journey. Hopefully, this information has helped you navigate that road so you can enjoy many worry-free outdoor seasons in the safety and comfort of your home.
By Richard Grossman – Brand Engagement Maestro, VISISICREEN®
Did you know that there are building code rules and regulations about how much natural light and natural ventilation must be present in each and every room of a home?
Before your building department approves a house or an addition, or even a window change, certain light and ventilation rules must be met. Closets, bathrooms, hallways and garages don’t fall under these guidelines.
Here are the rules:
For Natural Light
A given room must have a window or glass door that is sized to equal at least 10 percent of the floor area of the room.
So, if a room is 10 feet wide by 12 feet long, then the room area would be 120 square feet and the minimum size of the window in that room would have to be 12 square feet. A three-foot by four-foot window would provide 12 square feet of natural light to the room – again, the required minimum.
Pretty simple really. For every 10 feet of floor area, you need one foot of natural light area.
For Ventilation
Figuring ventilation is much easier. Natural ventilation must equal 5 percent of the floor area – or exactly half the requirement for that of natural light.
In our natural light example above the window also would qualify for minimum natural ventilation if half of it was operable.
Although handled as separate issues, you can see that natural light and natural ventilation actually have a very specific relationship to one another inasmuch as calculation rules are concerned. The required amount of light is literally double that of natural ventilation. Or stated another way, the amount of natural ventilation required is exactly half that of the natural light requirement. Have it your own way.
Why is this so important?
Simple, natural light cuts down on the need for artificial illumination and therefore can save energy. In the winter warming sunlight can cut on heating costs. As for ventilation, keep in mind that Mother Nature’s breath reduces mildew and mold. And unless you live in downtown LA – the outside air is usually quite medicinal (lots of oxygen) and refreshing.
Lighting Placement
The required window doesn’t need to be in the same exact room. For example: Let’s say we want a family room sliding glass door or window to provide the required light and ventilation for both the family room and the kitchen.
When a window or door in one room will provide light and ventilation to another room then the area of both rooms must be calculated together as one and the window or door must qualify for the entire area. But, there is just one tiny, little hitch.
There must be a big opening between the two rooms. And it can’t be just a doorway. The opening between the two rooms must equal at least 50 percent of the area of the wall space that separates the rooms.
In other words, if the separating wall is 8 feet high and 11 feet long (88 square feet), then the opening in the wall must be at least 44 square feet. Now you see why architects get so much money.
If you have a question simply bring the details to your local building department and ask what you can do – before you spend the money doing it wrong.
Natural Light Benefits
Light also has something to do with how a room feels. Giant windows bring the outside inside. They give a room a feeling of greatness – as big as the all outdoors. Inside colors are warmed up by outside light and make the room feel homier. Ever get locked in a closet when you were a kid? How would you like it if all of the rooms in your home were like that? If you are a sadist – don’t answer that question.
The texture of fabrics and wood in the home is enhanced by natural light – especially the wall texture. Natural light enhances the entire home – color and texture definitely are affected.
The bad side
When it comes to windows and glass doors providing light and ventilation, there are minimums. This is confused by the fact that when it comes to energy efficiency and glass there are maximums. That’s a whole other column.
Suffice to say that when it comes to light and ventilation there are the minimums we have related, but when it comes to windows there are equally as many rules about maximum amounts allowed. Again, always check with your building department when planning any construction.
The front door is often the first item up for inspection by visitors to your home.
If the front door looks good, chances are your visitor will have a favorable impression of the house from the outset. If you have an older door, or a door that is damaged, replace it with a new one to give your home a well-cared-for look and better performance.
You can replace any exterior door in your home without removing the jamb if the jamb is in good shape and not out of the square. You just need the same size door without the hinge cutouts. You don’t need special tools, you can cut the hinge mortise with a chisel and a hammer.
Removing The Old Door
Remove the old door from the jamb. Use a cordless gun to unscrew the hinges from the jamb. Leave the hinges on the door. Place the door with the exterior side down, across two sawhorses. Remove the doorknob.
Place the new door on top of the old door with the exterior side down. Make sure the doors are flush with each other around the perimeter of the door. Use a pencil to trace the locations of all three hinges from the side of the old door to the new door. Unscrew and remove the old hinges from the door. You use them again on the new door.
Sizing and Tracing
Remove both doors from the sawhorses. Stand the new door on its side with the hinge side facing up. Clamp it to one of the sawhorses with a hand clamp.
Place the hinges on the door as if they were already installed on the door using the pencil lines to align them. Complete the tracing around the hinge plates.
Cut around the tracings with a utility knife to a depth of 1/8 inch. Hold a chisel with the bevel side up, horizontally at the side of the door. Push and rock the chisel back and forth across the grain inside the hinge tracings to remove all of the wood from the inside of the tracings to a depth of 18 inches. Tap on the back of the chisel if you need to, to get it to cut.
Screwing and Installing
Insert the hinge plate into the hinge cut-outs. If they don’t fit flat, or won’t fit into the tracings, continue cutting and shaving the cutouts until the hinge plates fit snug and flush into the hinge cutouts, called mortises.
Screw the hinges to the door using the old screws and the cordless screw gun. Hold the new door in place on the jamb. Tap the hinge plates back into the jambs. Use the screw gun to screw the hinges onto the jambs. Put the doorknob on.
In this episode, we’re focusing on improving the exterior design of Chelsea’s ranch-style home.
Several months ago, Chelsea and her husband Brandon bought a mid-century house. They have already done some minor updates before moving in with their three children, Gus, Mary Helen and Lucy.
Now that they have been living in the home for a while, Chelsea and Brandon are ready for some bigger projects that will really make a difference.
We’re giving the exterior of Chelsea’s home a facelift from the 1950s and bringing it into this century!
Chelsea’s new JELD-WEN windows add a huge difference to her home’s exterior appearance.
Replacing the Windows
Chelsea and Brandon’s home was built in 1956, so replacing the windows — originals to the place— is a must. The old windows were rusty and leaky — keeping them was out of the question.
After we take measurements, Low-E, energy-efficient JELD-WEN windows are installed around the perimeter of the house and sealed.
The windows are sealed with Duramaster, a super-flexible new caulk, to keep them air and watertight.
Chelsea’s new garage doors she built with Danny give her garage some modern flare.
New Garage Doors
Just like the windows, the garage door was old, rusting and leaking.
Chelsea and I built the new garage doors using wood planks in a diagonal pattern for that modern look. As soon as we install the new doors, Chelsea gets busy sanding and staining them.
She chose a natural stain to bring out the grain in the wood as well as protect them from the elements.
Chelsea paints her new shutters to complement the windows of her home.
Painting the Shutters
By replacing the windows, we also needed some new shutters to complement them. Chelsea chooses to paint the shutters a warm brownish-gray color by Behr.
Once Chelsea paints the shutters, we start installing the mounting hardware and begin to hang the shutters around the perimeter.
Production Thoughts
Chelsea’s house was built in 1956 and it didn’t look like much had changed since then.
The color was kind of “Blah,” the windows were rusty and leaky, as was the garage door, and the lawn and landscaping were a little out-of-control.
There was really nothing to draw your eyes or make you take notice of the place.
But NOW, the whole corner seems to be alive and begging for attention. The new color on the walls is cheerful and bright and the new windows have the clean, modern look that Chelsea wanted, plus a lot more efficiency.
New shutters continue that crisp look, and the new front door adds warmth and character to the house, along with the cedar shakes on the front gable and the new garage doors around the back.
The exterior updates of Chelsea’s house really took her curb appeal to the next level. It now has a welcoming feel to the home and has brought this mid-century home back to life.
