PSA: My old house in Tacoma had a stuck basement window for years...

I finally got it open by gently tapping a flat bar into the seam with a mallet after soaking the tracks with penetrating oil for two days. Has anyone else had luck with a different method for painted-shut windows?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.mary2mo ago

My last apartment in Spokane had three windows like that. I used a heat gun on the paint seam for a minute before prying, which worked without damaging the frame.

flores.tessa6d ago

Had a buddy who tried this on his old place in Portland. He skipped the heat gun and just went at it with a putty knife, ended up snapping the blade and gouging the wood bad. Took him forever to fill and sand it before the landlord came by for the walkthrough.

grantthomas2mo ago

Heat guns sound way smarter than my usual method, which is just yanking on it until something gives.