How to Choose the Best Paint for Wooden Stairs & Apply It Professionally
When it comes to painting your wooden stairs, there are a few key points to consider. Our job as the UK’s trusted provider of everything stair-related is to provide customers with first-class bars, rods and runners as well as professional advice to ensure their staircase maintains its appearance and durability through the years.
In this guide, we’ll talk about what the best paint for wooden stairs is, how to apply it and accessories that you can add and install to reimagine the appearance of your staircase.
Choosing the Best Paint for Wooden Stairs
Wooden stairs are arguably the most common staircase material for residential properties. Wood is durable, affordable and looks great in every home, making it an attractive staircase and floor paint option.
When it comes to painting your wooden staircase, the biggest factor you need to consider is durability. Semi-gloss paint is one of the best options when it comes to floor and stair paints because it’s incredibly durable and looks great even when faced with heavy foot traffic. Some people opt for eggshell or matt finishes as these too are able to withstand foot traffic and general wear and tear to a high degree. You don’t need any type of specialist floor paint to achieve a durable and good-looking staircase, just the right materials and some quality floor paint!
We have a more general guide on what the best paint for stairs is here.
Preparing Your Wooden Staircase for Painting
First things first, you will need to prep your staircase for painting – Start by cleaning your staircase from top to bottom. We’d recommend hoovering first and then wiping down the stairs using sugar soap (as this helps the paint bond to the wood).
Next, leave the stairs to dry and the sugar soap to set – It’s important that your stairs are completely dry before applying the first coat of paint, if not, the paint may struggle to stick and its appearance will be inconsistent.
Sanding – if your stairs are in pretty bad condition (there are notable wear and tear marks or rough areas) you will want to sand down these spots using sandpaper or a sanding block. Once sanded, clear the staircase of any remaining dust or debris using a damp cloth.
Priming your stairs – prime your stairs using a wood primer designed specifically for wood to help your paint stick. Primers are predominantly oil-based, which provides a solid base for the paint to stick to. Leave the primer to dry on the treads and risers before applying top layers.
Top Tip: Applying mist coats – if your wooden staircase hasn’t been painted before, you might find the surface to be slightly porous, which means the paint may have trouble sticking and bonding. In the event of this, you might want to invest in a mist coat, which is essentially watery paint. It can be created using any paint just by adding water to it. As a guideline, go for a 70:30 paint to water ratio.
Painting Your Wooden Stairs – Before you begin painting your stairs, make sure it’s at a time of the day where you won’t be needing to use your stairs to allow for drying time – early morning is when most people decide to start. For painting, start from the top with an oil-based brush and work your way down to the bottom, starting by cutting in the corners using a smaller brush.
Once all your stairs have been cut in, it’ll be easier to paint over each tread and riser with a larger brush. You can use masking tape to cover any bannisters or areas of the stairs you don’t want to paint during this process. You can use a roller, but we’d recommend a larger brush as we find it offers a more authentic finish (but it’s entirely up to you).
The first coat of paint will take around 4-6 hours to dry and we’d recommend at least 3 thick coats of paint to ensure a great aesthetic and durable finish. Be sure to take shoes off when going up and down the stairs during all painting stages, as the wood will take time to fully bond and sink into the stairs. All in all, it should take around 72 hours for the paint to properly set into the wood (so no shoes on during this time)!
An Optional Extra to Consider – You may want to add one layer of varnish onto your three coats to give your stairs one final layer of protection. It will also help seal the last three coats and give a fantastic final appearance. Again, leave this coat for 72 hours before walking on it with shoes.
Now to Complete Your Wooden Stairs!
We truly believe that no wooden staircase is complete without the final addition of a classic or contemporary stair runner and matching door bars and rods. Take a look at our stunning collection of beautifully crafted runners and bars to complete the look, style and feel of your staircase.Explore our carpet runners and door rods and brackets, or alternatively, move on to transforming your staircase wall with these ideas.