Clear Window Restorations is a Portland home window repair company that has been fixing, cleaning and restoring windows in and around Portland since 2006. We know just about all there is to know about windows. Below, we have written some helpful tips that you can use to open those stubborn, painted-shut windows.

If you have wooden, sash windows, chances are you have tried to open one of them at one point to no avail. No matter how hard you push and pull, you just can’t get the window to open. This is most often caused by careless painting. Luckily, it is usually not too difficult to get those stuck windows open again. All you need is a putty knife, a small hammer, a pry bar, a small block of wood and some sandpaper. Start on the interior of the window and work your putty knife between the sash and the window frame. Run the putty knife around the entire frame. If the window still won’t budge, try gently tapping the end of the putty knife with a hammer as you work it around the perimeter of your window. If you try this and your window still won’t open, you may have to try a different approach. If it is accessible from outside, put a pry bar under the sill on one corner of the window. Tap the bar lightly with a hammer to wedge it under the sill. Once the pry bar is in place, put a piece of scrap wood underneath it to prevent damage to your window sill. Gently try to lift the sash with the pry bar, applying even pressure on each corner of the window. Once the sash is lifted, examine the tracks and look for any paint buildup. Sand away any rough spots. This will make it easier to open the window in the future.