Before painting a wooden staircase, you need to make sure that it is dry. It should be painted in the disassembled form (however, it is rarely made in practice). How to paint a wooden staircase?

Therefore, painting the staircase with a complex structure is a laborious procedure that requires specific knowledge and skills.

Preserve the natural pattern of wood

Before painting the wooden staircase, you need to choose the coating. If you want to preserve the color of natural wood, you don’t need to prime it.

It is enough to clean the wooden surface of all elements and make sure that there is no unevenness on it. Read more about how to paint wood in the full article.

How to paint a wooden staircase in such cases?

Application of stain to the wood will provide a good effect. It will help to highlight the beautiful texture of the surface and visually hide the minor defects.

The transparent varnish is applied in several layers. Each new layer must be well dried and slightly sanded to remove the bubbles. The varnish must be matte or semi-matte.

Such surfaces are more suitable for the staircase than the glossy ones, as the structure of its elements is very heterogeneous.

Besides, glossy varnishes applied to the steps and railings quickly lose their shine due to their intensive use.

How to paint a wooden staircase with oil paints?

Stairs are often painted in any color using oil enamels and paints.

Before painting the wooden staircase, you should choose the type and color of paint. It depends on the overall interior design plan of the room.

All stair surfaces should be prepared before painting. Read our detailed article on how to quickly remove old paint. To repair all kinds of defects in the form of holes, dents, etc., you should choose the putty to match the tone of the staircase.

After drying, the staircase should be polished. The primer surface must be smooth and uniform.

What do you need to paint a wooden staircase?

Painting of wooden stairs is carried out only after the preliminary application of a layer of primer. This is necessary to improve the color retention and to reduce its consumption of the paint.

The grade of the primer is selected depending on the type of wooden surface and the paint color.

Alkyd and urethane alkyd enamels are suitable for painting the wooden stairs. It is not recommended to use glossy enamels and paints for these purposes, as they have a very slippery surface. Read the detailed article on how to choose paint for wood.

You can apply a layer of transparent matt varnish over the paint to provide additional protection for the coating and give it an attractive aesthetic appearance.

Recommendations for painting a wooden staircase

  • You need to start painting only from above. Before painting the wooden staircase, find out whether it will be necessary to use it during the repair work.
  • If yes, you can paint the staircase in two stages (skipping every other step). At first, you should paint only a half of the steps, and then (after complete drying) the rest of the steps and railings. In other cases, you can simultaneously paint the steps and handrails that are level with them, gradually descending from top to bottom.
  • Knowing how to paint a staircase, you can choose the right paints, varnishes, primers and finishing materials at a much more affordable price. Besides, doing such work with your own hands will provide additional savings.
  • As the staircase is designed to be walked on, the strength requirements for the paint surface are as high as for the floor. Read the article “How to paint a wooden staircase”. As a rule, at least three layers of paint should be applied to the stair steps.
  • Each new layer of paint should be applied only after the previous one has completely dried. Handrails can be painted in one or two layers.