Should I Paint My Stairs?

When you invite guests to your home, whether they are friends or coworkers, first impressions are crucial. When entering your residence, each and every feature of the room is important towards creating a sense of your personality. This first impression can be the difference that makes people remember you in a positive way. Hiring a professional to keep your indoor or outdoor stairwell tidy and presentable is a great investment towards the overall image of your home.

A key feature of most buildings is the stairway that leads to the building and the stairway that provides access from the ground floor to the higher floors or basement. As a result, the stairway is a part of your building that is viewed and used by friends and family on a regular basis. This means that a shabby stairwell will not go unnoticed by your visitors and should be kept in top shape. Not only is a run-down stairwell unattractive, but it can become a safety hazard as well. When a stairwell is worn out enough to lose patches of paint, such as safety stripes that mark high steps or uneven surfaces on stairwells to a basement or garage, there is also a risk of the staircase becoming slippery when wet from rain or even routine mopping.

Another important aspect to consider is that without paint as a protective barrier, excessive moisture can quickly damage wooden stairwells and will eventually damage a concrete or steel stairwell. Replacing or repairing your stairwell is certainly more expensive than keeping the painted surfaces in good shape.

How to Select a Color

When it comes to stairwells, choosing a color is the easiest part. Often, stairwells are painted to match the room that they are surrounded by or can represent favorite colours. Changing the color is not always necessary, but when a change is desired it is the exterior stairwells that are most flexible when it comes to colour choice. Bright colours can suit the muted exterior colors of most buildings and can attract positive attention to your home.

In most cases, visibility and safety are very important features to be considered when repainting. Adding brightly-colored safety stripes can help prevent accidents on uneven or unusually steep stairwells. Non-slip coatings are often available from professional painting companies if safety is a concern or a more durable coating is required, such as a basement stairwell. No matter what, a freshly painted stairwell will improve the overall aesthetics and safety of your property.

How to Prepare your Stairs for Paint

Once you’ve made the decision to paint your stairs, it is important to follow the appropriate steps to ensure that your stairs can be painted successfully to create the polished and professional look that you are seeking. The first step is to clean the surfaces of the stairs that you intend to paint. This can involve only the treads (where you step) or can go as far as painting the banisters and spindles to match the style of the room around the stairwell. In either case, all surfaces that will be painted need to have the old, flaky paint removed. This can be accomplished with a sander or chemical paint removers.

Nails that protrude from wooden stairs should be removed and replaced for a neat paint job. Any excessive grease should also be removed. Once this preparation is complete, the stairs can be masked off from surrounding structures and primed for paint. Although this cleaning and masking step can appear tedious, it is crucial to the lifespan of the paint that you choose to apply. Professional residential painters are well-equipped to handle this challenge and can get the work completed quickly to avoid disturbing your home. A professional painter is also able to ensure that masked off areas stay neatly masked off and that painted surfaces are free from imperfections.

How to Apply Paint and Non-Slip Coatings

Applying the paint or resistant coating to your stairwell is a task best left to professionals. Often, the best products for the job are only available to licensed painters or require special equipment for optimal results. If you choose to apply the paint yourself, using a brush or a roller are your best options. Be careful to protect your knees during this job, as sitting on your knees for long periods of time is common when painting stairs with a brush or roller. This method is also time-consuming and may prevent the staircase from being used for longer than necessary.

A professional will typically use a spray gun to achieve an even and crisp finish for your steps. It is also important to allow sufficient cure times between primer application and the application of each coat of colour. Failure to do so can result in a paint job that peels prematurely or simply doesn’t resist dirt and grime in the way that a proper industrial coating is capable of withstanding. You can feel confident that your home will run smoothly during the repainting of your stairwell and that beautiful results can be enjoyed for a long time when you choose to hire residential painters who know exactly how to provide you with tasteful, durable results.

If you have any questions or would like to get a free estimate, contact us here or call us directly at 239.600.1418.

Should I Paint My Stairs?