LESLIE: Alright. We’ve got Len in South Dakota on the line with a question about refinishing windows. What can we do for you today?
LEN: I want to refinish some windows. Now, the frames themselves, there’s something wrong right now. I have Andersen windows and they’re badly in need of refinishing, because the – well, it’s been 39 years. So, there has been some flooding and stuff, so especially the sills are bad.
TOM: OK.
LEN: And I’ve heard about a paint that was actually mentioned on This Old House, from their house where they had refinished some kitchen cabinets. And they’re talking about a special paint they’ve got now that you don’t have to sand or anything like that. You’ve got to degrease a little but you didn’t have to sand or anything. And you can just – the paint was very, I guess, adhesive. It just …
TOM: I think you’re talking about these one-step products that are basically primer and paint in one. And sure, they exist out there, because everybody was looking for – kind of cut corners and make it all happen a little bit easier. I personally am not a fan of those products. I am a traditionalist in that I know that I want to clean my surface, sand my surface, prime my surface. And only if I do those three things do I know that the paint’s really going to last. And I’ve had great success doing this.
I mean I’ve had durable paint surfaces on the outside of my house that have lasted over 10 years by kind of following this path, so I really don’t think it’s worth, you know, just kind of skipping that priming step to use an all-in-one product. Plus, I’ve noticed that when you put a second coat on, it tends to be kind of gloppy, because it’s really thick.
LEN: Oh, OK.
TOM: OK? So that’s my two cents on refinishing windows.
LEN: OK. It was very expensive. And they said it actually – it was actually used on streets.
TOM: I’m sure there’s great products out there for refinishing windows like that but I just don’t think you have to go there. You’re just talking about saving one coat of paint and a little bit of sanding, so I would definitely do that the right way, OK?
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