Basic Painting a Rotten Window Ledge

[NewspaperTaxis]

I will most likely replace this window ledge before the summer is out but in the meantime, one advantage of having to paint some rubbish like this is it doesn't matter too much if you mess it up!
For all that, I don't want to mess it up too badly, so with no experience at this, I imagine you could just buy some sandpaper from Wilkes or Wilko, sand the ledge down, then on a sunny, warm-ish day use some black paint for wood from Wilko and paint it on?

I just want it to look okay from the pavement.

For all that, to replace this ledge, does you book a carpenter? When we had Anglia do our windows some years ago, they put in a new ledge albeit a relatively unattractive white non-wooden one, so I'm not used to just getting someone in to do that.

Ditto front rails. I could get someone in for this, but basically I just wash them down, paint on some black paint for metal and leave it?

Well if you’re getting the sill replaced then yes, quick sand and slap it on. It’s not gonna work if the wood is too far gone though.

The gate is probably worth making a bit more effort, unless you plan on getting that done for you. Sand it back and use hammerite. Horrible toxic stuff but lasts well.

Ive got a decorator doing the outside now and one of the sills is rotten . He's replacing it himself. I imagine a handyman could do it if you don't feel able.

Yeah. Bit of a sand and outdoor black gloss paint.

The rails, I'd do in Hammerite . Lasts well.

I'd try and remove as much of the crumbly wood as you can and get some wood hardener on it before painting.

If you feel like it, buy some wood filler to cover up the missing bits and smooth it over.

I have done that with the ledge on my front window and you actually wouldn't know now it's painted. It does need replacing, but as a temp fix it's pretty good.

Many thanks for all these answers! I'm off to B&Q now!

Hi everyone! I did get my window ledge painted and took the tips offered - sanded it down, then wood hardener, let it dry overnight, then wood filler, also letting it dry, then a coat of black paint for wood.

Not bad at all! Thanks everyone, in particular to @BobblyBlueJumper