# Staining & finishing pine stairs



## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

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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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

Don't forget the tack cloth between coats as well

Mark


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## spraygunn (Nov 14, 2010)

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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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

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


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## spraygunn (Nov 14, 2010)

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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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

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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## spraygunn (Nov 14, 2010)

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


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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

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 (Jan 30, 2011)

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 (Mar 15, 2009)

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


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

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 (Mar 15, 2009)

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!



jsheridan said:


> What grit paper are you using? 150-180 grit is about right. 220 between coats.


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


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

housepaintingny said:


> 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.


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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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

secutanudu said:


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


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 (Jan 30, 2011)

secutanudu said:


> 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!
> 
> ...


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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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

So I sanded this weekend, I see a bunch of black spots on some of the stairs. I used a damp cloth to clean the sawdust off, and when the wood was wet it really brought out these imperfections. THe stairs are 50-year-old pine, and are MUCH cleaner looking than before I sanded...are these just imperfections in the wood or do I need to sand more. I can try to take pictures tonight.

I can't find "NuWood" - is there another good way to clean the wood before I put conditioner & stain on them?




housepaintingny said:


> I would recommend the Duraseal line of stain and poly.


I found a wood floor supplier that stocks duraseal. Any particular stain and poly within the duraseal brand? Or do I just go with standard oil-based stain and floor poly? 

Thanks.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Andrew, i've seen black spots on pine before, but without seeing what you're dealing with, can't say. Maybe try wiping them with a bit of thinner, you may minimize them to shadows at least. But hey, they're fifty years old, a little character has to be expected.


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

I stained and applied one coat of poly, looks great. How long must i wait between coats? I'll do a light sanding and wipe with a tack cloth before starting each additional coat.

How many coats? I was thinking 4 thin coats oughta do it.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Sounds good Andrew, the can should specify the recoat time. As to the number of coats, a minimum of three is routine. However many you apply will just add to the depth and the look. Good to hear it worked well for you.


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

The can actually specifies "wait for it to dry". It doesn't say an amount of time. It's "Fabulon" brand (commerical grade) that i got from a local wood flooring supplier. They recommended that along with duraseal stain, which I also used. 
It's rainy here today and very humid, as it will be all week, so I'll probably just do a coat a day.


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

Ok, I got my 4 coats done. Came out much better than I expected, very pleased. I waited about 8-12 hours between coats, with a dehumidifier running at the bottom of the stairs a lot of the time.

Now I have to paint the risers. The treads are already white, but I'll repaint on top to match. As far as the bare pine treads...what's the best method? They are pretty knotty. I planned on using oil-based primer, 1-2 coats, then 1-2 coats of paint...all from Sherwin Williams. Thoughts?

Thanks!


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

Here's how they came out...I went with a shellac-based primer and it worked great.


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## LidoGirl (Oct 21, 2011)

Did you use a wood conditioner? Also, how many coats of stain did you apply? What color stain did you go with? How are they holding up? HOw did you time it so you could use the stairs also? Thanks, I'm tackling this same project this weekend, worried about how well the pine stairs are going to take stain.

This post is a few months old, taking a chance you'll see it. 

Jen


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

Hey Jen, yep I'm still here 

The stairs are holding up great. Here is the procedure I used:

-Sand everything first (treads & risers)
-Used stainable wood filler on any deep gouges or scratches I couldn't sand out
-Working from the top, about 3 steps at a time (or ho many you can reach), I used a tack cloth on each tread, then applied a coat of *minwax wood conditioner*
-I waited 15-20 minutes (according to the directions on the conditioner can)
-Applied a coat of stain
*I used DuraSeal (pro version of minwax) stain - Colonial Maple color. It matches my non-stained red oak floors enough to not be too noticeable.
-I let the stain soak on the surfaces for 10 minutes or so, then wiped the excess
-I then repeated this process (staining) on the same 3 steps, applying a second coat of stain, wait 10 minutes, wipe off excess
-Then do the same thing on the next 3 steps (tack cloth, stain, wait 10 min, wipe off excess, then stain them all a second time)
-I let the stain dry 24 hours.

Next day(s) - poly
(I bought a good 2.5" or 3" angled brush made for oil-based finishes)
-Again, starting from the top, 3 steps at a time
-I used a tack cloth on each step, then painted on a light coat of poly
*I used Fabulon "Super Satin floor finish (they sell it at wood flooring suppliers, not HD/Lowes). I decided to go with satin instead of semi-gloss to make the steps less slippery, no idea if this was actually necessary).
-Worked my way down and followed the same procedure (tack cloth then poly)
-Wait 24 hours
-very light sanding with 220 grit sponge
-tack cloth
-apply a second coat

I applied 4 coats of poly. It's not officially "safe" to walk on until 24 hours, but I found that after about 10 hours it's pretty much fine to walk on in socks. I actually cheated and did 2 coats in one day about 12 hours apart. Leaving a dehumidier near the stairs probably didn't hurt either.

For the risers, I used shellac-based zinsser primer, 2 coats really covered even the darkest knots without any bleed-through. The only thing i regret is using satin latex paint on the risers. They seem to show a lot of dirt and are hard to clean. If I repaint them, I'll probably go with oil-based semigloss. Holds up a lot better, as the backs of your feet hit the risers more than you'd think when going down the stairs...especially if you have shoes on.

All said and done, i am VERY happy with how great the stairs look. I can't imagine looking at those ugly unfinished stairs ever again.
Hope this helps.


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## LidoGirl (Oct 21, 2011)

eeks. sounds like you didn't have to use the stairs much during this project? Think I'm going to have to do every other step or something, or maybe work at night and sleep on the couch. Thanks so much for the detailed info. I'm trying to find the dura seal stain, I was planning on using the mix wax super fast drying floor poly, but not sure if its any good. Guess I'll talk to the floor people when I get there. My stairs already have some sort of finish on them, I dont think it's poly. There was an ugly runner on them that I ripped up and I'd like to keep just the wood, but the steps are dingy and dinged up so I thought I'd try to freshen them up. Let's hope I don't make them worse! Thanks again!!


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

If you do a coat in the morning, i'd say it'd be safe to take one trip up and down to go to bed after 8-10 hours if it's not too humid...

It's dry to the touch in like an hour....i think walking up with socks after 10 would be ok.

I did this whole project as part of a larger one moving my bedroom from the first to second floor...so nope didnt need to use the stairs much


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Andrew, sorry I missed the pic that you posted. Don't know what I was up to at that point, but. The job looks great, nice work. If you apply a coat of the poly over the risers, it will help to keep the dirt and scuff marks down. 
Joe


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

jsheridan said:


> Andrew, sorry I missed the pic that you posted. Don't know what I was up to at that point, but. The job looks great, nice work. If you apply a coat of the poly over the risers, it will help to keep the dirt and scuff marks down.
> Joe


I didn't know you could poly over paint. That's a great tip, thanks!


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## LidoGirl (Oct 21, 2011)

wouldn't poly over paint make it impossible to paint again if needed? or at least very difficult? heading to the store to get some supplies...


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

i bet 1 thin coat of poly is pretty easy to sand off...


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

If and when it comes time to repaint, just scuff the poly and go. If it would make you feel more comfortable you could apply a bonding primer, but it isn't necessary with a good scuff.


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## secutanudu (Mar 15, 2009)

looks like i need to repaint, then do 1 coat of poly.

Should make it nice and easy to clean. Thanks, J!


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## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

LidoGirl said:


> My stairs already have some sort of finish on them, I dont think it's poly. There was an ugly runner on them that I ripped up and I'd like to keep just the wood, but the steps are dingy and dinged up so I thought I'd try to freshen them up. Let's hope I don't make them worse! Thanks again!!


I picked up a couple of old solid wood panel doors that I installed in our previous home. When I got them they had multiple layers of old paint that I stripped off. 
There were several areas that I _thought_ I had sanded thoroughly but there was still residue in the grain. This showed up when I polyurethaned them. A distressed look was OK for me, but since you are working with something that has a previous finish I would recommend you take your time and be sure to get all of the old finish off.


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## LidoGirl (Oct 21, 2011)

thanks. I spent about 5 hours sanding last night, got most of the old finish off with 60 grit but still have to get into corners a bit better and then finish off with 150 grit this morning. is that right? was hoping to get the stain on by sun down. I'm not even totally sure the boards are all pine anymore. seems like only the first two are and the rest are hardwood, it was a million times harder to get the finish off of those and the wood seems a bit darker. who knows. thanks guys


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