Woodwork, doors and sash windows

What counts as woodwork?

Woodwork, sometimes called trim or joinery, is every painted timber surface in a room: skirting boards, door frames and architraves, doors, window frames and sashes, dado and picture rails, and staircase timber. It takes far longer per square metre than walls, and it is what people notice first when a room is finished.

Oil-based or water-based trim paint?

Water-based eggshell and satin paints dry in a few hours, have little smell, stay white and are flexible enough to move with the timber. They are now the usual choice for interior woodwork.

Oil-based gloss and eggshell flow out smoothly and give a very hard finish, but they take most of a day to dry, smell for longer and yellow with age, particularly in rooms with little daylight and behind radiators. Switching from oil to water-based paint is possible, but the old gloss must be sanded to a dull key and coated with a suitable adhesion primer first, or the new paint may peel.

Preparing doors, skirting and architraves

• Washing off grease and grime, especially around handles and push plates.
• Sanding to key the old surface and to remove runs and drips from earlier coats.
• Filling dents and open joints, and caulking gaps between skirting and wall.
• Sealing bare knots with knotting solution so resin does not bleed through as brown patches.
• Priming bare timber and filled areas before undercoat and top coat.

Paint layers from before the 1960s may contain lead. Where there is any doubt they are tested, and they are rubbed down wet, never dry-sanded or burnt off.

Sash window painting

Many Victorian and Edwardian houses in Ealing still have timber sash windows, and they need a particular approach. Sashes that have been painted shut are carefully cut free along the beads. Sticking sashes are usually caused by paint build-up on the edges and runners, which is eased back so the window slides again; the running faces are kept free of heavy paint.

Putty and glazing bars are painted with the paint lapping about 2 mm onto the glass, which seals the join against water, and the glass is then cleaned with a blade to leave a crisp line. Rotten timber, broken cords and failed putty are noted before painting: minor filling is part of the job, while serious repairs are for a joiner or sash specialist. As an example, painting one sash window on the inside typically comes to £140–£230.

Casement windows and doors

Casement windows, common on 1930s semis in Greenford, Northolt and Perivale and on later homes, are simpler to paint, but their opening edges still need thin coats so they close properly. Doors are painted in a set order, panels first, then the rails, then the stiles and edges, so there are no lap marks. As an example, one interior door painted on both sides with its frame typically comes to £100–£150.

Panelled period doors take longer than flush modern ones, and doors with years of built-up paint may need the worst layers taken off so the mouldings show again.

Getting a price for woodwork

Because woodwork varies so much, it helps to count doors and windows and note whether skirting is tall and moulded or plain. The Instant Quote lets you add doors, windows and skirting room by room, and photos of sashes or damaged areas help the decorator confirm a fixed quote.

Staircase joinery is covered in more detail on the hallway and staircase page, and outside windows and doors on the exterior painting page.