Hardwood Stairs…Paint or Refinish

Question: I am in the process of painting a rental property..after ripping off the upholstered stairs I have discovered that the steps are painted with a oil based stain. My question is that I was considering painting over them and am wanting to know if I have to stick to another oil based stain or paint or if it possible to switch the paints completely to a latex based paint?  And if it is possible then what do I need to do to prep them either way.  Thanks Tim

Answer: Hi Debbie,
Thanks for your question. I’ll make an assumption first, that by “upholstered” you mean “carpet”. If you have hardwood stairs you probably have hardwood in the most of the rest of the house too. In Colorado, that is considered a premium finish and brings extra value to the house. You may want to check out the rest of the house and think about keeping the hardwood by having it refinished. If not, here is how to paint the stairs.

Products
I would not recommend a latex paint for stairs. It isn’t durable enough. You need something that can take the abuse of being walked on and kicked. I would recommend an oil based solid body deck stain. Even a water based deck stain doesn’t hold up like the oil based. For best results use Sikkens. Second choice is Cabot’s. They do drag a little so thin with Penatrol. It will take several days to dry so make sure you don’t need to go upstairs for a while.

How To
After removing the carpet strips, prep the wood by wiping it down with a TSP substitute. Fill the nail holes with spackling and sand till they are flush with the wood. You may want to scrape off or sand any bumps or fill dents with wood filler and sand those areas flush. Wipe off the dust with a damp rag. Prime with Zinsser’s Cover Stain or Low Odor primer. I would avoid Kilz for this project. Then paint with two coats of an oil based solid body deck stain.

Hope This Helps,

Tim Hoeffel
Better Painting
Colorado Springs, CO