How I Fixed My Flaky, Peeling Window Ledges Quickly And Easily
My exterior window ledges were in a terrible state this summer. Flaky, peeling, and significantly damaged, I knew that I needed to sort them out to stop the ingress of water and smarten up my home's exterior. Before I start this post and tradies and people who like to criticise people on the internet get troll-happy, I am well aware that for a perfect job, all paint should be stripped back and that the final finish on my ledges isn’t perfectly smooth - but with a family to look after, a full-time job and the current cost of living, I don’t have the time or money to invest in scaffolding or have hours to sand back for a pristine finish. This blog post is a guide for those in the same boat as me to follow on how to do a simple patch-up job with a process that works, with no paint lifting again a month down the line. Plus, it only cost me £36 and my time over a bank holiday weekend.
How my window ledges looked before my DIY fix.
My peeling windows were the result of a mix of hot sun and bad preparation (the ‘professional’ decorator I paid 4k three years ago to paint two sides of my house applied a matt paint over a gloss finish with no primer in between). Because of this, the paint had burst and lifted away from the surface. "Extended periods of direct sun exposure will quickly expose any shortcuts or subpar craftsmanship, not just on exterior window paint, but even on decks or the window panes themselves," says Andrei Newman, a home design expert at Casa Blui.
I gave the sills a good sand back to remove all the loose paint.
To start, I gave my ledges a good sanding back with a hand sander to remove all of the loose paint flakes.
Using a cleaning brush, I then brushed away all the sanded paint chips and filled the large gaps, cracks and holes with an exterior filler, leaving it to dry overnight (my ledges are concrete, but if yours are wood then you might want to use a wood putty instead).
I applied an exterior filler with a filling knife to the gaps and holes.
Once dry, I gave the ledges a light sand to smooth down the filler then cleaned them with a microfibre cloth and sugar soap (don’t use too much water over the filler, just make sure your surface is clean from dust and debris ready for priming and painting). Leave everything to completely dry and harden before moving on to the next step.
To stop the edges of the previous paint that still adhered to the sills lifting, I applied Zinsser Peel Stop. I’m a huge fan of Zinsser products and I’ve used Peel Stop before for interior projects. This clear binding primer seals down old paint edges and will stop them from lifting and pushing through the new paintwork. I applied one generous coat which was ready to paint over after a few hours of drying in the sunshine.
I then gave my ledges two coats of black exterior paint and I was done! Goodbye flaky windows!
