Odd Question

[Hound dog]

I grew up in old houses. Windows had the solid wood frames. Then I lived in apartments for years upon years. Their windows all seemed to have like a plastic thing on the window sill.

Well the guy that redid this house replaced all the windows. Great. But none of the sills have any type of protection at all. If the window is open and it happens to rain in.......hits right on the sill which doesn't seem to be much of anything and is just flat paint.

So now after 7 yrs of doing our utter best to keep it dry........It's looking sort of cruddy. If I'm going to paint the downstairs.......and I really want to and need to..........I'd like to put something on the sill to protect it so it doesn't just wind up getting that way again.

Anyone know if there is something out there for such a problem? Figured you guys would be good to ask cuz I'm not even sure what to do an internet search under. lol

 

[rlsnights]

What window style are they? The kind that go up and down where one part moves and the other stays still? Side to side? something else like cranks?

I'm guessing you are used to the double or single hung style (the parts go up and down). These have a sill of wood (the newer ones are likely to be vinyl and have a sill made of that) that runs across the opening of the window. When the window comes down it sits against that and makes a seal.

The newer vinyl windows that go side to side are just set into the rough opening and then drywall is run right up to the edge of the window frame.

Can't really put a piece of wood or other stuff there because usually it will get in the way of the window sliding back and forth.

You could try painting the drywall on the sill with a different kind of paint that will stand up to having standing water/dew on it. If you use flat paint for the walls you could use the same color paint in a semi-gloss finish that is easier to keep clean on sills. Should make it a breeze to vacuum or dust the sills if they're not wet.

And I suppose you could just lay a piece of heavy cloth on the sills and gather up the dirty ones and wash them every few weeks. Might blow off if it got windy and you'd want to switch them out right away if they got wet.

That's all I know to suggest. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.

Patricia

 

[flutterby]

http://www.sill-rite.com/

 

[Malika]

One of my son's first complete sentences was "Man come fix it"... this was because when we were living in Marrakech, and my ex-husband was away working, and something went wrong or needed repairing a man would come to fix it... My shameful, and thoroughly un-easy child response, is therefore: is there a handyman in your neighbourhood you can ask?!

 

[AnnieO]

I love you, Heather!!!

Lisa - I have the same problem upstairs - mostly from kids leaving the windows open, though. And now downstairs, we have openings that have no sill at all.

 

[KTMom91]

You could try paint specifically for kitchens and bathrooms. I didn't know it even existed until I got the paint for the bathroom. The water beads up nicely when Miss KT accidentally aims the shower nozzle at the walls.

 

[muttmeister]

I am a seasoned do-it-yourselfer. I've never had to deal with your specific problem but when I have a question like that I hie myself to Menards (or Home Depot or Lowes or whatever you have in your area) and ask. They're more than happy to give you advice. Yes, they are hoping you'll buy something but you aren't obligated and it's a great resource. If you do buy, they even give you advice on how to install, etc.

 

[AnnieO]

Accidentally aims it at the wall?!

I think my kids do it a-purpose. And even bathroom paint (gloss, in our case) doesn't stand up to that.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Well the guy that redid this house replaced all the windows. Great. But none of the sills have any type of protection at all.

In that case, the guy did the cheapest possible window job - called "inserts". If the sills are a problem now, its because they haven't been looked after... which means there really isn't anything you can cover them with that I know of that will stand up to anything, because the wood is damaged.

Should have had "replacement windows", which is more work inside and out, but provides fully finished new sill and everything. So for anyone else out there looking to do windows, don't take the "insert" option!

For you... that's obviously not where you want to go (if you have newer windows, then you don't really want to be replacing them already...). So maybe someone else has a brilliant idea for protecting damaged wooden sills??

 

[rlsnights]

So the sill-tite things look good - but you will need to be careful about installing them if you don't want a bigger problem down the road. Assuming you have the drywall sills now, these fit over them and butt up against the vinyl window.

They rely on a bead of caulk applied to the underside of the sill-tite to keep moisture from getting down under the sill.

I predict that this is much easier said than done - unless you are really handy and experienced doing caulking.

Also, if the windows and drywall are not in really good plumb there will be gaps of varying sizes between the window and the inside edge of the sill.

This is not to say you can't do this. Just be wary of an "easy" solution like this.

The problem with not doing it right is that moisture will get under the sills and create mold/mildew and wood rot where you can't see it - until you see it creeping out from under the vinyl sills. If you do a good job caulking and fitting the sill to the window this problem is unlikely. And you will be wise to renew the caulking regularly - especially if you live where you have big temperature changes that may cause very much expansion/contraction of the wall and window.

Good luck with that. If you need to keep it cheap - I'd do the semi-glass paint first and see how that works for you.

Patricia
never lived in a house that wasn't being remodeled by somebody (construction engineer, finish carpenter father)

 

[Hound dog]

The newer vinyl windows that go side to side are just set into the rough opening and then drywall is run right up to the edge of the window frame.

That's what I have.

I think the wood is ok................the flat paint now looks like total **** though. I'm pretty good about getting windows shut fast when it starts to rain. I just figured if I'm painting the room.......I might as well fix the issue with the sills so they wouldn't look awful anymore.

And yeah, the guy that redid this house did the cheapest humanly possible to everything. So we are learning. ugh

Thanks for all the help. Calking won't be an issue. sister in law is very good at it.......he worked with his dad for years doing side jobs and summer work. If he doesn't think he can do it, he'll ask his dad.

 

[KTMom91]

Step, I got the paint at Lowe's. I believe it's by Glidden, and it says right on the can that it's for kitchens and bathrooms. It's held up quite well.

 

[AnnieO]

Hmm.

Ours was for bathrooms, I know that for sure.

I also know Onyxx and destruction...