Either remove all the old paint or patch it to even out the area. M&H Ready Patch is good for this, but first I would prime with a primer designed for rusty areas. Do not use WD40. That is a lubricant, not a cleaner. Some will use a wire brush for rust removal but I generally will just scrape away the loose stuff, then use 100 grit sandpaper.

Thanks. Went to the store and they said that I should use the WD40 to remove tape marks. As to the rest, they recommended just stripping the paint from the entire window. It is going to be a brutal job because there are many windows and they are all huge. But they said that since there are at least 2 layers of paint on it, I would be foolish to try to even straighten any of it out. They also recommended rustoleum paint because the window frames are apparently metallic, not wood.

The whole window does not look that bad. It appears that the sill is being damaged by condensation dripping from your windows. My guess is that you are in a cold climate? I would remove what appears to be the standard door stop molding where the window meets the sill and simply replace it after stripping the sill. Strip the sill will a good chemical stripper. Tape off all areas you don't want to be damaged by the stripper with 3 layers of standard masking tape. After getting the paint off, sand the rust to bare metal, then prime the whole area with an oil based primer. Then put the new door stop on, caulk, and paint with a couple coats of a good trim enamel. I would "face off" the entire window with the paint. It looks the the window frame itself just needs a token scuff sanding and refresh of the caulking.

Be careful about keeping the caulking at the bottom of the window in good shape. It appears that the condensation water is getting at the sill in this manner.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I do live in an area that can get cold. It's possible that this was the result of an air conditioner too. It looks like the molding is 1.5 inches and it appears to be nailed in.

While rustoleum says you don't need priming, you're probably right and better to prime anyway. Thanks for the step by step.

Looking around it's worse than I thought. Much worse. And I'm worried that it seems that I have a crazy hard job ahead of me as some of the windows are worse than others. Here are some beautiful photos. :(

Bad

Worse

Ugly

OK, some of it looks worse than the first pictures. It looks like the wood molding is being damaged through contact with the cold condensate on the windows.

A couple suggestions:

Look into replacing all the door stop molding with plastic molding. Plastic will obviously not be affected by moisture, as will wood.

If you replace with wood, prime and paint the rear edges of the molding before replacing it so that moisture will have difficulty penetrating the wood from the back side. This is easiest done with a spray can of primer and paint. Secondly, caulk the edge of the molding where it meets the metal of the window so that condensation cannot come in contact with the wood.

In installations where drywall is wrapped close to the window in a "shadow box" configuration, a plastic "U-channel" is used for precisely the same reason - to keep condensation from damaging the exposed bare edge of the drywall. You are fortunate you don't have drywall, or it would be severely damaged too. The metal jambs can be cleaned up and or stripped, and new molding applied.

The good news is that your metal windows ( replacement ? ) seem to be in good shape. Goof Off should get rid of the old latex paint on the window frames without damaging the factory paint finish.

@David Jensen - Thank you so much! So I was able to find a part that wasn't covered by paint and it's some really cheap wood. It must have been used decades ago. What you saw is the worst of it because it was near an air conditioner, which must have been in there forever. Now that I know what it is, I'll be able to find a better replacement. I will probably need to replace the molding along all the windows in this room and thank you for a very good suggestion.

No - I have metal window frames and perhaps I should be thankful for that. My understanding is that in our complex all the windows will be replaced at some point. I've begun using WD40 and Goof Off to remove the horrible paint and duct tape remains from the windows. I can't thank you enough (you and everyone else) for helping making me feel much more relieved! I hope to show before an afters!

Here is what I would likely try (assuming I understand correctly -- that there are only a few that are this bad; that under all that built up paint and mildew there is metal, not wood; and that you want to have the finished pain surface look even and neat and stay looking nice.

I would not worry about tape/adhesive marks and would put away the WD40. I would make the time and space to have everyone out of my way and to have a good exhaust ventilation and tarps/drop clothes and shop vac set up along with proper eye, ear, possibly respirator (definitely some airway protection and disposable as well as heavy duty neoprene gloves.

i would spend the time and effort to remove all of the built up crud -- so removing tape marks is a non issue. If I understand your gunk problem, you'll be removing the years of old paint and sludge underlying the tape adhesive marks.

I'd first try to chip, chisel, dremel, grind and sand off anything that I could without damaging the steel underneath. Vacuum that all up, wire brush and try to remove more. Vacuum again.

Then, following the manufacturer's direction and with proper ventilation and tools and protection as discussed above, I would begin applying the "best" (most effective, lowest VOH paint stripper remover I could get. What you use would depend upon a few factors and the types of paints in that cracked sludgy stack. You'll want to protect yourself floors and adjacent areas. You can use layer of rosen paper atop a tarp and and the paper gets messy, swap out. Have some chip brushes, steel scrapers and gougy tools and some disposable paint pail liners to toss the scraped off partially disolved old paint into. (Dispos of properly as it will be flammable. Just keep working on dissolving the old paint, scraping it free, repeat...until you get almost all if not all of it off. It's work and messy. Then, after what you cannot get off has dried and 'cured' a bit, you can try to sand and scrape the rest free.

You may be able to do some of this outdoors. You may want to hire someone to do this part for you. I have removed old alkyd paint this way, then, in the case of a large, pick wick bead board back bookcase, washed it with TSP (Tri-sodium phosphate --- there may be restrictions on its use or availability from state to state). Let that remain a while, then rinse off with clear water. Allow to dry thoroughly. If only working indoors, you can use terry rags, pails and poly plastic drop clothes with "towel / rag dams" to protect your flooring.

Allow the project to dry well. Shop AC dry, towel dry, dry nooks with hair dryer. You don't want to create rust and you will want to treat / remove any existing rust.

I would do all of this way before even considering priming and painting or addressing the opportunity for condensation.

A faster and less messy way to address all the gunk might be to pay someone with a sand abrasion set up. It may be costly. Perhaps you can barter. Ask around at some auto body shops or vocational schools.

Best of luck. It will look so much better when you get it cleaned up. One trick to help with condensation is to consider a dehumidifier or a small fan. Always went cooking kettles and dishwashers with a kitchen exhaust fan. Always run your bath and shower exhaust fans for 15 or 20 minutes after shower use. In the winter or fall, we sometimes crack a window and let some of the very dry winter air (New England) come in and exchange with moist air. If in the fall or early winter and you have a lot of moisture in your house from a humid fall or late summer, be careful about keeping your rooms too cool until a lot of that moisture wicks out of porous walls and floors. We've got a tight house, so have to mind the level of condensation growing on cold Windows (we don't have the best windows). If you have a house full of large dogs, you're apt to get a lot of condensation.

The WD40 may actually impede the adhesion of primer or paint....just saying.

@petalique - Thank you so much for the time you took to provide detailed instruction! You helped me compile a whole new list of things to get/to do... Reaching this window won't happen from the outdoors but it doesn't have to be. I discovered many new things.

1. The side "door stop molding" is actually some type of wood. It's just thin and I thought it must have been aluminum. The holes in the trim is actually not trim deterioration. It is an empty area that is between the trim and the window filled with thisthick black silicone type material. That appears to have been eaten away. You can see the bottom trim in the After! photo below. Stripping the paint and existing silicone excess followed by repainting and filing in the hole with black silicone should do the trick. No need to replace the wood trim! :) Just not sure what this black silicone sealer is...

2. I used Goo Gone to get rid of the duct tape and junk on the window sill frame. That is metal. Wow... the before and after photos are striking!!! The junk on the windows is some type of ivory colored hard silicone and the other is black silicone. There are also holes which means that an air conditioner was installed here (poorly) and they must have tried sealing the holes and area with foam and silicone. I used a 6 in 1 tool to scrape off a decent amount of it and it will take time. Still have a long way to go.

Before

After!

Just before you wrote I purchased citristrip because it is supposed to be less toxic than the usual paint remover. I'll use this on all the parts of the metal sill that won't strip away and many thanks to you for listing so many of the extras I should buy that I didn't even think about on my list, such as the liners on top of the garbage, on top of my painting tarp, etc. It would appear I'll have to do the same for the radiator but at least that is flatter and floor level.

Unfortunately I think I'll need to do most of this myself but, thanks to you, I now feel so much better about this big job. Next task is getting this silicone off the metal window sill area. I will probably fill the holes with bondo and sand down with the roto and oscillator tools that I just bought.

@paintguy22 - thanks for the tip. The tape is on the metal window frame.

I still find the task really daunting but so glad that you've helped me make it feel feasible!

I was in Home Depot today and priced the plastic door stop. At $10 per 12 foot piece, I wouldn't expend too much energy trying to save the old stuff. Plus you know the plastic will not be damaged in the future by condensation.

As to removing the old paint: I prefer the old time tested methylene chloride based products, such as Klean-Strip Premium Stripper. They are nasty, but they work much faster than the other supposedly less adverse products. It is a heavy liquid that will hold on vertical surface too. It is not flammable.

Chemical strippers will produce a lot less mess than messing around with chipping and sanding. The dust goes everywhere! To minimize mess with chemical strippers,. tape sheet plastic under the windows so you don't drip on the walls or floor. Ethylene sheet plastic will not be eaten up by the stripper. Put plenty of newspaper under the window and get a cardboard box into which to throw the sludge you're removing from the window frame. Home Depot sells a little shovel like plastic scrapper made just for this purpose. After getting the majority of the gunk off with the scraper, I give a final light coat of stripper, but remove it with medium grade steel wool this time. Finally, I use lacquer thinner for a final wipe of the surface with paper towels. Lacquer thinner is very flammable, so to be careful with this step.

@David Jensen - Thanks so much for taking a look at what is available at HD for me! I looked online but couldn't find any plastic door stop that was 1-5/8 inches wide or near, which is around the existing size. Smaller would not be feasible. I only found these, the only ones under $10 were oak and the vinyl is a tough match and most aren't in the stores and very ornate.

• Door Stop 1

• Door Stop 2

• Vinyl Stop 1

• Vinyl Stop 2

Couldn't find the shovel for the scraping but plan on using a putty knife. I've got metal and some plastic ones but need to make sure they won't react with the stripper. Thanks for the tip on the lacquer thinner and will look into it.

No one has yet suggested a heat gun and a scraper. That's my first tool of choice for windows, although mine are wood. I go in a second time with the chemical stripper - the toxic but quick stuff mentioned above - to get what the scraper missed.

Te problem with heat guns on metal is that you risk permanently warping the metal. I too occasionally use heat on a heavy build up of paint on wood. Heat actually works better when there is a very heavy build up, rather than just a thin coat. When the wood was to be painted again, and there was no danger of accidentally starting a fire, a propane torch is much faster than an electric gun. The torch does cause some scorching of the wood, making it not the best if staining is intended.

Went to another Home Depot - same inventory. Have no idea what you found! :)

I also received another idea - don't bother painting the window sill. Use paint and stick tiles to give it a beautiful and different look. It sounds like a great idea but I'll have to see how people have done this so you don't see the edges of tile paper sticking out... but I have seen this done before (for real) and it can be intriguing.

I How to paint chipped / crumbling paint on window frame / sill. I believe has l

ead paint underneath