judipoody

Hi!
I have an oldish wooden window and frame in my bedroom, and the paint has worn off...and a small amount of mold has grown (not bad, but..) Obviously, rain water has been absorbed into the unpainted wood. I'm wondering what I should do to prepare the inside of the frame for painting, and also, is there a good paint or primer that will keep mold from growing? I am very sensitive to paint and chemical fumes, and it's a small room with only that one window, so fumes are an issue.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! =)
Judi

Nestor_Kelebay

You should fill in any checks or splits in the wood with an ACRYLIC caulk. An acrylic caulk in the cracks would prevent most of the moisture from being absorbed, and any moisture that is absorbed into the wood could evaporate through the acrylic caulk.

You can use a paint meant for bathrooms to prevent mildew or mold from growing on the sill. However, this will necessarily be a latex paint, so it won't stand up well if you put things on the window sill (like pictures and plants and such). It's soft, so every time you slide a potted plant over latex paint, it'll leave a mark.

judipoody

Thank you for your reply...sorry I'm late in responding, but I did use a latex like you suggested, and it seems fine. I don't keep anything on the sill, so that's not a problem.

NJ Coatings

Nestor's technique is fine unless the wood has been compromised (beginning to soften and rot) from the excessive moisture. Since you've already painted this with a latex, it's a wait and see proposition. If the coating begins to come up, it means that the wood was compromised.

In this case, after scrapping off anything that's coming up and not firmly adhered to the wood surface, a liquid epoxy wood hardener will strengthen the compromised areas. Just let it sink in and dry, then repaint again. We use this stuff all the time. Our favorite is by Abatron and can be found in most paints stores.

If you have an uneven surface from chipping paint and such, a hi-build primer like Mad Dog or Peel Bond can help even out the surfaces for a smoother looking finish. You can ask the paint store if they have any small samples of Mad Dog. I know my paint store has been giving them away. It's probably enough to do a window sill

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