I am a little confused about what you are doing exactly. Are you dealing with new windows & doors plus some existing ones? On your new doors & windows it sounds like you have a removable mullion (window grid). Are you staining this mullion & leaving the rest of the door/window itself painted? If thats the case I would prolly just go ahead & paint the jam but if you wanted to have the casing stained then stain the jam also.

You paint them. They go with the molding.

Thank you, I'm sorry it's not more clear. We have Andersen casement windows with pine interiors and aluminum exteriors. The grills aren't removable. The interior jambs surrounding the windows are also solid pine and are 8" deep all the way around. My instinct is to agree with premier, that the jambs should be painted white to go with the casement molding. I'm just having a hard time with the thought of painting over the stain-grade wood, so I started to question what we were originally thinking about how it would look to mix the two finishes at all, and if it is complete overkill to do it on every window in the house...I'm wishing for some pictures from anyone who has actually done this, where the window grills and frame are stained, and the jambs and casings are painted.

I'd do what premier suggest.........for the look and for the fact that painting the trim around the stained area is going to be a pain for someone.

Have to ask why you went with stain grade jambs?

Wow - it is sort of nice to see that I am not the only one wondering about this sort of thing. I am guessing jdstudio isn't going to say why he has stain grade jambs, but since I am in a very similar situation, I'll answer and hopefully I can get some feedback on our situation.

We are looking at 2 Anderson 400 double hungs with a picture window or possibly even a set of 4 double hungs for our living room. We want the Andersons because they have a traditional look with nice mullions and they are going to be very prominent in our living room. As far as I can see, they all come with the stain grade wood, but you can have it painted white at the factory.

In addition to the fact that it seems a crime to paint the wood, I think the spacers between the glass look better/more realistic with the stained mullions and the stained mullions won't take away from the view as much as the white ones would. We are also going to be putting in a french door which will be in the adjacent dining room and visible from the living room. I would really hate to paint the french door, but that is also a similar situation.

We have a fairly open floor plan, so if I start replacing the painted trim, I am going to have to do almost the whole first floor because there aren't any/many good places to make a transition. We have wood floors and a lot of antique wood (stained) furniture, so I think staining all of the woodwork would be just too much. Plus, the fireplace mantle is painted and we like it the way it is now.

What we are thinking is that we could leave the sashes and the permanently attached mullions stained, but paint all of the trim around the perimeter of the window. We would also have to leave the sills stained as well, but the painted trim would be underneath of them. The french doors would be done in a similar fashion. Has anyone seen anything like this? We like things relatively plain and traditional, so I am probably going end up wanting to paint them if it comes out looking goofy. Needless to say, getting paint on them at the factory is going to be a lot better than trying to paint over stain.

Greg

Not sure I've seen the casing stained with white trim. I'd stain the window frame and mullions and then do the surrounding casing and mouldings in the white. I have seen the sill done differently, say a slate, which is also very attractive. Things always depend though, of course.

I think I need a dictionary of window terms. When you say the window frame and mullions - you mean just have the 'moving' parts in a double hung (sashes and mullions?) stained and have everything else painted? I think that is what I was trying to say because there isn't really anything else except maybe one small trim strip on the side, which probably should be painted. Of course a casement has very visible edges within the opening (the casing?) which I can see would make a lot of sense to also paint.

Greg

I am stumbling across this post 14 years later but sharing what I think jdstudio was seeking: a photo of stained sash and grids with painted casing and jamb extension. Perhaps it will help others that may be considering.