Staining & finishing pine stairs

secutanudu

I have bare pine stairs in my house. I have oak hardwood on the floor below, I'd like to get semi-close to the same color on the stairs (I know they'll never look the same). I plan to stain the treads, and paint the risers white.

The stairs are not in bad shape, but do have some dirt and scuff marks. This is what I plan to do...am I missing anything?

1. Basic vacuuming/cleaning of the stairs
2. Sand stairs by hand and with palm sander
3. Vacuum stairs, clean with tack cloth
4. Apply wood conditioner to tread
5. Apply (2 coats of?) stain, a few hours apart, then wait 24 hours
6. Apply (2-3 coats of?) polyurethane, light sanding between coats.
7. Prime/Paint the risers

My plan is to use all oil-based minwax products.

Anything I'm missing? I've never stained or polyurethaned wood before.

Thanks.

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Andrew

Jackofall1

Don't forget the tack cloth between coats as well

Mark

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spraygunn

Hey Andrew,
If you don't mind I would like to add one additional step and that would be to first strip the treads using a chemical stripper. By doing that, you eliminate the possibility of missing hidden coatings you might miss by just sanding. Yes it's messy, however you're taking on a big project, why not go the extra mile and make sure?

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Steve

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secutanudu

Is that just turpentine or paint thinner? How is it best applied?

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Andrew

spraygunn

Neither, look under paint stripper. Turpentine and paint thinner are just that, only thinners. What I'm talking about is paint REMOVER.

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Steve

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secutanudu

Wouldn't I be able to tell if there was a finish on the stairs already? Or are some finishes so old they are not visible? It sure looks & feels like bare wood. I'm not opposed to doing it right, just don't want to do more work than necessary.

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Andrew

spraygunn

OK, I assumed it already had a finish. If it doesn't, then by all means follow YOUR plan.

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Steve

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housepaintingny

Sounds like you've got a good handle on it Andrew. I would recommend the Duraseal line of stain and poly. It can be found at Sherwin Williams. We use Duraseal in our floor refinishing division and even on gym floors. Its very durable.

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jsheridan

Hey Andrew, I would make three suggestions, if I might
I would get some pine stock comparable to your treads and do some practicing first, especially if you've never worked with stain before. When you set to do the project you want to know exactly what application formula you need to achieve the look you seek, do some samples.
When you condition, stain, and poly the steps, overlap them onto the risers and stringers so it doesn't look like you have a stopping point at treads edge. Obviously, you can't condition all the steps at once. I would condition two, stain two, and so on. You have a two hour window to treat a conditioned surface with stain. I try to keep the time between conditioning and staining the same for each unit.
I would heed housepaintingny advice and be sure that the poly is spec'd for floors.
Oh, and sand lightly between coats of poly.
Good Luck

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secutanudu

I guess it's time to start sanding....why am I doing this again?

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Andrew

jsheridan

Try to keep the sanding uniform as you're altering the surface and you could have discrepancies, and don't oversand. What grit paper are you using? 150-180 grit is about right. 220 between coats.

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secutanudu

The stringers are already painted white. The risers are unfinished (like the treads). Will overlapping both the conditioner, stai,n and poly onto the risers and stringers a bit be noticeable after I paint (I plan to repaint the stringers when I paint the risers). I assume primer & paint should be able to cover it up just fine?

Thanks!

I guess I'm using 150-180, and 220 between coats

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Andrew

secutanudu

I just went to sherwin williams...didn't see Duraseal. I see Minwax products there, including one that says it's for floors...

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Andrew

housepaintingny

Minwax floor poly will work. You probally have to ask for Duraseal, I know at my local SW Duraseal is not on the shelves.

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jsheridan

Whenever two painted finishes come together, it's best if one overlaps onto the other to prevent old finish from being visible at the line. Don't slop it so it creates a texture. You don't want the treads to have the look like you stopped the finish at the edge, and to do that you can't worry about getting stain on the stringers/risers. I think you know what I mean. It's a faux decorator technique.

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