Staining Old Exposed wooden windows

[DBAman]

Moved into new house where windows have been left untreated for a few years and are now flaking quite badly.

They look like softwood with several layers of dark brown stain, the lower windows are flaking quite badly and I am keen to sort them out properly. My instinct is to rub down to remove all flaky stuff and to prime the wood and restain.

Two Problems

1. Only wood primer I have used is the grey stuff or white acrylic
Which is best or is there an alternative.

2. Using either of the above means the brown stain will not hide the
primer and look awful should I be undercoating.

Asked a decorator for a Quote for all windows he wanted £600 - ouch
he said he'd burn off all the stain and start again.

This sounds excessive - HELP ! !

Thanks, Gwyn

 

[Richard C]

Chances are your window frames are finished with something called Sadolin; this does not require any primer. You could strip the frames right back & start again but this will be a long & tedious job. I had stained timber windows in my previous property & every 4-5 years just used to sand/brush off all the loose flaky stuff & apply a couple of new coats over the top; still OK when I sold up after 18 years. Use Sadolin Extra as it’s more suitable for outside use; not cheap but it’s good stuff.