Getting Smart With Floor Paint For Wood Stairs

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Painting your wood stairs can be alarmingly tricky if you are not prepared. Finding the right floor paint for your wood stairs can be such an ordeal that many people may give up, and just have bare wood stairs or carpet. However, there is a better way. Getting smart with floor paint for wood stairs can be the only thing you need to breathe a bit of life into an old stairway.

How To Choose The Right Paint

As you are painting wood, it is important that the paint you are choosing is suitable for wood. If not, you could have disastrous results, and what’s worse, you will have wasted money. As a general rule of thumb, gloss coatings are not suitable for wooden stairs for safety reasons. Also, as stairs are high foot traffic areas, it can be worth finding a durable paint with anti-slip coating for your peace of mind. If your wood stairs are already painted, you will need to check that your paint can be applied directly to a painted surface. Otherwise, you may need to strip the paint before continuing. As stairs are a small area, it is easier to use single pack coatings, but if require two pack epoxy coatings can also be used.

Preparing To Paint Your Wood Stairs

Before doing anything paint related to your stairs, it is essential to prepare them first to prevent damage. It is imperative to sweep, clean and dry the area beforehand thoroughly, as contaminates can cause paint to lose adhesion or blister. When cleaning wood stairs, keep in mind that floor paint works best in a pH neutral environment. Cleaners that neutralise alkaline are advised for this purpose. Before applying your paint, ensure that your stairs are entirely dry. If your floors were waxed beforehand, it may need to be stripped back because it may cause the wax will not offer adhesion to paint. If your stairs are made of a wood prone to resin seepage, it would be advisable to use a resin blocking primer before painting. Without this, your paint may suffer areas of yellowing or loss of adhesion.

Painting Your Wood Stairs

After preparing your wooden stairs, you should be ready to paint them. Most floor paints are easy to apply if you follow the correct instructions, although there are a few tips I can give you. A standard issue that can ruin the look of many painted wooden stairs is brush strokes going in opposite directions to the grain of the wood. This is something that can be seen in the final product and as such, is something that should be avoided if possible. The same goes for rollers; try to paint in the same direction as this will improve the look and feel of the final product. Often, paint can require two or more coats depending on the type of paint you are using. There should be a recoat time from the manufacturer, but it is advisable to leave it 12 to 16 hours before recoating to allow the paint to dry thoroughly. After finishing painting, clean your equipment with cleaning solvent immediately, but don’t store them in a solvent because this can damage them, leading to expensive replacements on your part. Of course, something that shouldn’t need to be said is that paint should always be used in a well-ventilated area to prevent risk to yourself.

Download Our Free eBook

If you want to know more about floor paints and how to go about painting your floor, our team at TA paints have just written an eBook The Ultimate Floor Paint Guide that will give you all the information you need. Regardless of whether you are looking to paint an industrial premises, or if you are looking to stock our range of paints, our eBook is something that should be read if you have any interest in floor paints. If you have already read the eBook, why not place an order with us? We offer free shipping on orders over £200!

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