Redoing Stairs

poppy_crystal

Not sure if this is decorating or DIY, to me it feels like decorating, but my stairs is currently red deal, varnished, but i was going to get stairs carpeted but i've decided against and now i want to paint ALL my wood work but my stairs are my first job as I left them go a little longer without redoing them than i should have and they look rough. I want to varnish the steps oak, and the risers ivory. Question being what is the best varnish and paint to use, obviously a high traffic area, i'd like a not too shiny finish if i can at all, obviously nothing slippery either. priming, do i need to? what primer to use? HELP!!!! i'm pretty handy with a paint brush and the physical work involved but I want to get my materials and technique right before i get down to the work at hand!

banoffe2

sounds like a great idea OP. I painted the risers white a few years ago and covered the steps with a tweed effect carpet, it brightened it up greatly but carpet is manky now, a lady I knew fell down a timber stairs in a very well finished house, rip now, so this has made me aware of the need for safety especially as you say a non slip surface on the step if this is possible. IMO all paint is slippery. This may sound ridiculous but I am considering covering the steps with a wood block floor covering and leave the riser white or warm white, I feel there would be more grip in it, I was raised in a farmhouse and we always had the stairs covered with some type of vinyl floor covering, no one fell and trust me it was well tested. Best of luck with your project.

PANDDDKP

Firstly, if the stairs is varnished and the wood is red deal then you cannot 'varnish' it oak. For that to happen you'd have to use an electric sander and sand the stairs back to bare timber, easy you might think, but not on a stairs, you won't get into the corners properly.

Then you'd have to stain the wood. You cannot stain over varnish, it won't soak and will look terrible.

If you want the risers white you first need to tape off the steps to make a clean line, then you need BIN Primer (red tin), it's about 25euro for a litre. Then apply undercoat and 2 top coats of satinwood (flat finish, not too shiny)

poppy_crystal

PANDDDKP wrote: »

Firstly, if the stairs is varnished and the wood is red deal then you cannot 'varnish' it oak. For that to happen you'd have to use an electric sander and sand the stairs back to bare timber, easy you might think, but not on a stairs, you won't get into the corners properly.

Then you'd have to stain the wood. You cannot stain over varnish, it won't soak and will look terrible.

If you want the risers white you first need to tape off the steps to make a clean line, then you need BIN Primer (red tin), it's about 25euro for a litre. Then apply undercoat and 2 top coats of satinwood (flat finish, not too shiny)

sorry, me and the terminology isn't great, i know its staining rather than varnishing but the words just weren't coming to me when i posted lol! i know its a serious amount of work to take on, the sanding will be a killer altogether but i hired a serious piece of machinery for the sanding first time around and i'm hoping that i'll be able to lay my hands on something like it again this time, and get into the corners by hand. Would it be better to do the risers after the steps? i fear the paint may lift from the risers if i do them first and have to tape the freshly painted risers to stain the steps?

PANDDDKP

I would do the steps first (varnish/staining) and then the risers after.

poppy_crystal

i'm kinda excited now! time to go buying supplies and send the kids away for a weekend! i'll feel so much better when the stairs are all fresh and clean looking again! hope it doesn't highlight the fact that the walls need to be redone from dirty hands rubbing all the way up! i'll end up having to paint like a mad woman again! oh well! worst case is i'm entertained for a few weekends and decorating keeps me out of the shops!