Wooden windows need thorough repainting after 20 years (with pictures)

Hello,

we moved into our new home (built in 1997) in December and will need to paint the windows. Especially on the lower friezes, the paint is worn down to the bare wood. The previous tenant/owner has touched up some spots here and there with a stain (at least that’s what it looks like). I would prefer to do a uniform coat. A stain would be out of the question since the wood and painted areas would absorb the color differently. Although I would basically retrofit an aluminum weather strip on the lower frieze, I still have at least the aforementioned problem at the front door. I have attached a few pictures of the situation.

Perhaps there is an expert among you who can recommend a surface treatment for me.

Stephan

1) The wood looks good in the photos. No problem. 2) It's mahogany, I guess. An oily hardwood, very durable. Great. 3) We take: scrapers, time, triangular scrapers, delta sander and remove everything loose. We also sand down the intact parts. Grey mustn't stay either. There's no help for it, before joy the gods have set sweat. 4) We dust well with turpentine and an old linen handkerchief. 5) We oil with Epifanes hardwood varnish oil. Buy that. It's available online. Also in stores. But only where there's coast. 6) After we have oiled for long enough until we get a closed, slightly glossy surface, we will achieve a result that only obliges us to maintenance and beautifying in the following years. Once primed, never a problem again. Karsten

Here are two photos. The oil and the triangular file.

Here are two photos. The oil and the tri-square.

Hi, thanks a lot already. I had seen your recommendation about the oil in the search before. Since it is neutral, I would have to pickle the bare spots. Or do you mean to remove everything down to the raw material? That is of course intense with so many windows.

Yes, to get an even finish, everything has to come off. Regardless of whether it's oil or paint. Only coating with colored thick-layer glaze saves you that. But that would be a real sacrilege to the wood. Karsten

I went through the process last summer. Preparing the apartment for re-rental: sanding down and repainting 4 skylights completely. You just have to get through it if you want it to look nice. But with the right equipment, it’s honestly not that bad. Just don’t overdo it, otherwise your arms will really feel it. Don’t forget dust extraction and hearing protection.
However, two other windows in the apartment still needed paint: after the previous tenant’s dog decided to test its little teeth there, I first had to sand down and fill all the marks. The only thing left to do then was to paint over it.