Hello! First post and unfortunatly, its going to be about an embarressing mistake that I made.
My mom has a very fixed income. She has been rather depressed about how her foyer stairs have been looking...this is where I decided to stick my foot in my mouth.
These wood interior stairs are in a high traffic area and have not been touched for about thirty years..the carpet has been removed for a good ten years. I scrubbed, stripped what varnish was left on the stairs and sanded. The stairs treads are in horrible condition obviously; very dry and discolored from years of exposure.
I decided to sand as much as I could and paint the stairs just to look acceptable until I can come up with enough money to help her have new stair treads installed. Please keep in mind that the company I work for has shut its doors and I really can not afford to replace these stairs at the moment.
I went to the hw store and bought latex primer, latex satin interior/exterior porch and floor paint and brushes. I painted the steps three coats of a color called brownstone and 72 hours later I am looking at it and am not impressed. It is very dull and it looks -odd. Then I realized that I never put the primer on :thumbup: ..yeah. I have painted at least a half dozen rooms in my lifetime and have never made this mistake before. If I wasn't using such a dark color, I'm sure I would of noticed this during one of the coats ... god thats the only reason I can come up with.
So, needless to say, I am back to square one. I am hoping to heck that i can just peel away this paint like a banana (heres to dreaming!) and start over.
So after this long drawn out story, my question to you fine folks is whether or not anyone has successfully painted stairs with latex floor paint, where you satisfied with your results and did it last? Either way I need to head back to the store..the satin was way too dull and it look depressing and dirty.
Other things to consider is that my mom has taken in two big dogs that are very active so durability is a must.
If someone suggests it, I can try to stain the stairs and poly the heck out of it. The downside to that is that it is the only entrance to the house and I know in this humid weather it will take a week for a couple of coats to set. Also, If staining is the better route, I was wondering that since the wood is so damaged, that maybe I should buy some wood conditioner first?
I just feel awful, I was just trying to help and cheer her up. ack.
My mom has a very fixed income. She has been rather depressed about how her foyer stairs have been looking...this is where I decided to stick my foot in my mouth.
These wood interior stairs are in a high traffic area and have not been touched for about thirty years..the carpet has been removed for a good ten years. I scrubbed, stripped what varnish was left on the stairs and sanded. The stairs treads are in horrible condition obviously; very dry and discolored from years of exposure.
I decided to sand as much as I could and paint the stairs just to look acceptable until I can come up with enough money to help her have new stair treads installed. Please keep in mind that the company I work for has shut its doors and I really can not afford to replace these stairs at the moment.
I went to the hw store and bought latex primer, latex satin interior/exterior porch and floor paint and brushes. I painted the steps three coats of a color called brownstone and 72 hours later I am looking at it and am not impressed. It is very dull and it looks -odd. Then I realized that I never put the primer on :thumbup: ..yeah. I have painted at least a half dozen rooms in my lifetime and have never made this mistake before. If I wasn't using such a dark color, I'm sure I would of noticed this during one of the coats ... god thats the only reason I can come up with.
So, needless to say, I am back to square one. I am hoping to heck that i can just peel away this paint like a banana (heres to dreaming!) and start over.
So after this long drawn out story, my question to you fine folks is whether or not anyone has successfully painted stairs with latex floor paint, where you satisfied with your results and did it last? Either way I need to head back to the store..the satin was way too dull and it look depressing and dirty.
Other things to consider is that my mom has taken in two big dogs that are very active so durability is a must.
If someone suggests it, I can try to stain the stairs and poly the heck out of it. The downside to that is that it is the only entrance to the house and I know in this humid weather it will take a week for a couple of coats to set. Also, If staining is the better route, I was wondering that since the wood is so damaged, that maybe I should buy some wood conditioner first?
I just feel awful, I was just trying to help and cheer her up. ack.