Need Help. Having trouble sanding darker stain from staircase

Timotay

I am currently in the middle of refinishing our staircase. I have stripped all the old paint and sanded down most of it, but about 4-6" of the ends of the treads are darker and I can't seem to get them looking uniform. The previous owner had a carpet runner on the stairs, around which he applied a darker stain and then painted over. I am using a 5" orbital sander and have used 40 grit discs and managed to remove most of the old finish. I have tried a very coarse stripping disc on the darker parts and it didn't seem to remove much more of the dark stuff.

My question is, "What next?" I'm thinking my next move is to rent a much more powerful belt sander and go at it with more 40 grit. After that I think I need to bring in a pro to finish the sanding. Check out the pictures. Also, anyone have any idea what type of wood the treads might be? They seem to be a very tight grain and don't really look like the floors and risers, judging by the grain on those.

sdsester

The stairs appear to be pine or fir. All the sanding in the world will not pull the stain deep out of the grain of the parts that were stained. You can try bleaching it out but I have never had much luck. Your best bet is to try and blend new stain as best you can to match. Try gel stains that have some opacity as you will have more control over the coloration.

Are you opposed to another runner?

Timotay

Thanks. One other alternative is to replace all the treads and then do the stain work. Any idea on what this might cost to have pro do it?

sdsester

A pro is going to have no better luck sanding but might be more experienced if you want to try to bleach the wood. It is a shame to have to replace those treads because they seem to be in good shape. I would definitely experiment with blending the two areas in before I made the decision to yank and replace the treads. Again, try gel stains with some degree of opacity.

chrisn

Had to look that one up!

pinwheel45

sdsester gives good advice. You're not going to remove those stains, they go deep. You'll be surprised how well you can blend them with some stain & patience.

roxksears

Okay, if it were me I'd try using a lighter stain on the ends where the wood is darker and a somewhat darker stain on the center where the wood is lighter as my first stain coat. I'd then apply a second coat using the same color for the entire stair. I think it would be fussy, time consuming work, and some trial and error to get the right colors to make this work, but I THINK it is reasonable to get a uniforum color with some extra work. Just my two cents worth.

Timotay

Thanks for all your advice.