I'm revamping my old wood windows, including reglazing with IGUs, repainting the frames and sashes, and cleaning off old paint from the aluminum tracks. I'm looking for a high-quality exterior paint that will last. Just as a side note, my house has long eaves (around 18 inches), so the windows aren't exposed to much weather unless it's really windy. Also, since I'll be reglazing with IGUs, should I reinstall the storm windows, or would it be unnecessary?
3 Answers
Just a heads up about your sashes: if you’re installing new ones, make sure they can accommodate the IGUs. Single glazed sashes won't really have the depth for IGUs. If the storm windows are in good condition, you’d benefit from reinstalling them; they offer better insulation. Otherwise, you might end up needing custom screens, and that can get pricey. Storms might interfere with window AC units too, so keep that in mind!
I generally lean towards Benjamin Moore for interior, but Sherwin-Williams has solid options for exterior paint too. I’ve worked with their 'Superpaint' and 'Duration' lines, both of which are acrylic latex. For window frames and trim, I suggest going for a gloss finish, but at the very least hit semi-gloss if you can.
For exterior wood windows, I highly recommend Sherwin Williams Exterior Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel. My wife and I used it to refurbish our 29 original windows in our 109-year-old home. The finish has held up beautifully and looks as good as new! We also used an oil-based primer before applying two coats of the Emerald. As for the storm windows, we put in new ones that matched our window color and it definitely improved energy efficiency. If yours are in decent shape, reinstalling them would help performance a lot!
I'm modifying the sashes to fit the IGUs, so that shouldn’t be a problem. They’re about 1 1/4" thick and I'll be using 7/16" IGUs, which gives me just under 7/16" of sash space on either side. I'm also routing weather stripping channels and adding fiberglass insulation behind the tracks since it's just an air gap right now. As for the storms, they’re pretty old and need some work. The bathroom storm is even missing the lower glass, so I might try to replace just that piece instead of the whole unit.