How to Paint Your Stairs and Banister on a Budget

Painting your stairs and banister has got to be one of the cheapest upgrades you can do. I’m working on upgrading our entryway and decided to start with painting the stairs as it would hopefully give me the motivation to keep going with the rest of the area. This didn’t take long at all, it took about 3 days.

What you’ll need

• TSP
• 120-220 grit sandpaper
• sanding blocks
• paint brushes (thin)
• painters tape
• rags
• stain blocking primer
• paint. You will want it in a satin or semi gloss finish.

Cleaning and Prepping

1. Clean the banister and spindles with TSP and a rag. There are other products out there that you can use, but my go-to has always been TSP.
2. If there are any nicks or areas that need to be fixed, this is when you will do it. I had a couple I had to fix up and used a wood filler to correct the issue.
3. You need to rough up the wood. I was very fortunate that the old stairs had terrible non-gloss paint on them. If you have a high gloss paint you will need to add some more elbow grease into it, to get the finish off. Remember to sand in the direction of the grain.

Painting

1. Apply a coat of primer. If you’re painting over a darker colour you’ll probably need 2 coats of paint. If it’s not a darker colour, 1 coat should be more than enough. Let this dry overnight.
2. The next day, give the railings and banister a light scuff with the sandpaper. After that’s done wipe them down with a rag and then paint the spindles. I didn’t use painter’s tape in this step as I wasn’t too concerned with the banister getting white paint on it. Let it dry for 8 hours, scuffed it up with sandpaper and wiped them down with a rag again. I then applied a second coat and let it dry overnight.
3. On the third day, you’ll want to use the painters’ tape on the spindles to prevent the dark paint from leaking on them. Once that’s done, use the sandpaper to scuff the banister up (and wipe it down). Now you’re ready to paint the banister. Once you have the first coat on, let it dry for 8 hours. After 8 hours you can scuff it up with sandpaper, and wipe it down. Now apply the second coat. Let this dry overnight.
4. When you wake up you can assess to see if you want to add a 3rd coat or not. If you don’t, then remove the tape and see if there are any touch-ups you would like to do.