I need to paint 3 French doors. They have panels of 12 x 8 glass, set into a wooden grill with the wooden divider strips about 1" wide.
It looks like Sisyphus labor to paint each little wooden grill without getting the paint on the glass.
Is there a trick to this? Do I need to apply tape each little pane?
Some folks paint onto the glass a little (for the seal), then scrape back.
I much prefer to mask off.
Actually, it's not Sisyphusian at all - progress *is* made. It's a virtue that's needed, not a trick or a tool. That virtue being - patience.
Cheers, Banty
Yes, unless your hand is very steady. If they are exterior doors and get condensation on the inside, run the paint ever so slightly onto the glass so's the condensation (inside) or rain (outside) doesn't run into the wood and under the paint.
Do you mean "sisyphean" labor?
IMHO, you exaggerate. The project is called trim-painting. With a properly-shaped brush, you flow the paint just onto the glass along each edge. People have been doing that for years, and butchers have been taping and slopping on the glass about as long.
Once you get the hang of doing it well, it just gets done.
JPaint the door, trim and all. Where the glass meets the wood trim, paint the trim and don't worry about getting some on the glass. When the paint starts to get a bit dried on the glass, score the edge were the glass meets the trim. Use a flat razor (preferable within the proper handled tool) to peal the paint off the window. The score line will ensure that when you peel off the paint from the glass it will end sharply at the trim. In the end you will have a nice crisp paint line between the trim and the glass. I think this is faster than doing all that taping as well as helps create a seal between the glass and trim.
Thank you all. At least I learned the proper adjective is "Sisyphean".
Now, all I have to do is paint around 45 little panes of glass. Why did the French do this to us?
Sisyphus had it easy. :-)
It is possible that you won't have to because many French doors nowadays have applied muntins; i.e., the glass is all one sheet rather than individual panes and the muntins are applied to it as a unit.
In your OP you said the muntins were wood but did not mention the brand/material of door. If your doors happen to be steel the muntins are undoubtedly wood grained plastic and at least one side is removable. This may be the case with doors of other materials as well. It's easy to tell, just try to wiggle the muntins...if they move easily relative to the glass and the muntin on the opposite side, look for filled screw holes in the muntins holding them to the door frame.
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You make a good point but, if it's one piece of glass it is "sandwiched" between 2 pieces of plastic and if you aren't careful, BOOM.
My doors are made that way and when I painted them, I painted just inside the frames and removed the extra paint with a single edge razor blade. Just like others in this thread have suggested.
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