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Painting interior stair treads
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Posted by mikensx (mikensx@comcast.net) on Sat, Nov 14, 09 at 19:24
| I need to paint the stairs of my 120 year old house. The wood is not suitable for stain and must be painted.
What is the best to use? Oil based porch and floor paint is the old standard, but is hard to get and messy to clean.
Has anyone done it with latex? Will latex hold up well enough for stairs, or should I go with oil? Can I coat latex with polyurethane varnish to make it wear better?
Thanks
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| Will a runner of some type be used in the middle? As usual...success/durability depends on prep! >>> Check for lead-paint first!!!!
>>> Check different layers too if any chipping is occuring.
If OK, * Use a good detail sander, and get the surface evenly dulled with ~100 grit sandpaper.
* Remove every molecule of dust...
* If using a LIGHT color, get a top-notch LATEX Porch & Floor paint. Most of these DON'T need a primer.
* If possible, check if a Factory-tinted color is available. ACE has 6 or 7 factory colors, plus the normal tint-bases. If ya gotta use the stairs every day, paint every-other tread/riser.
* This way, your brush-strokes can go from side-to-side.
* If you knew a runner would be used, just painting one complete half-side would work.
* Let both topcoats harden-off somewhat for a day b4 walking on it in SOCKS.
* This MAY have to be done on 2 diff. weekends?!?
* Don't use SHOES for a WEEK.
* Full cure is ~ ONE MONTH. Because of long cure-out/hardening times...DON'T put any kind of Poly on during that month.
If you do Poly, use a good Water-base (stays clear), and apply ~4 coats.
Water finishes typically dry thinner than Oils, therefore, only applying 2 coats of Water-finishes is a BARE MINIMUM to have any kind of wear-layer. Faron |
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| You won't gain any durability if you use a poly over the paint because the paint is as durable as the poly if you are using a high end paint. |
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| Good point Paintguy. The ONLY reason to add a Poly is to MAYBE gain a "wear-layer" over the paint.
Due to the additional wait time for curing, AND another round (or 3!) of work, it's just not worth it... Faron |
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| Thanks for the help. I can get either Behr porch and floor paint, which is latex only, or Velspar porch and floor, which is availabe in oil and latex. My stairs are scraped down to bare wood and I will not be using a runner. I will be using gloss finish. Is oil still that much more durable than latex? |
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| As I said in my thread about floor paint, my experience is that latex floor paints don't come in glossy finishes, while oil-based floor paints ONLY come in glossy. Paintguy thought I hadn't shopped enough :-) (first time anyone has EVER said that about me by the way!), but do be forewarned that wanting glossy (which will look and wear better) MAY limit your choices... mind you, you guys do have more selection in the US than we do in Canada. KarinL |
RE: Painting interior stair treads
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| No, oil is not more durable than latex. A high quality acrylic paint is every bit as durable as an oil based paint after full cure. |
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