What paint should I use for my stairs?
Question:I want to paint my stairs white, and have carpet in the middle (a la the olden days). I don't know what type of paint I should use (gloss/matt or oil based/waterbased etc), and how do i stop it getting dirty from all the handprints/fingerprints?
Any advice much appreciated
Answers:
hello there painter here,
allright, #1 are your stairs painted already?
if no, they are wood, i would definatly use a good oil based primer with a good oil based FLOOR paint on top. don't buy wall paint, it's not made to stick to the floor nor be walked on. the shinier the finish the easier to clean and the longer it lasts. oil based will outlast latex, especialy on the floor. yet it is more of a pain. it takes 24-48 hours to dry and if it's humid out, it could take longer...
if the stairs are painted already ... with latex you have to stick to latex, with oil you can go with either.
if the stair case is the only access to the upstairs, i'd paint everyother step, then when they are dry, paint the others. that way you can still go up and down with out hurting your paint job. also i'd wait a week or so till i put the carpet down. just to make sure the paint is fully cured, so it wont stick. (could be an issue if you go to pull the carpet up later)
good luck!
lj
use a good waterbased paint. oil based take to long to dry and are harder to clean after.
Go to home depot they have the most selection. bring a sample of you what you want to match it to.
vinyl silk.every time, contains latex which gives it a shiny/smooth finish.
Gloss. Once dried, it's hard wearing and easy to clean
If its for the treads either side of the carpet then I would use a satin paint, hard wearing and wipeable like gloss but has a lovely slight sheen to it.
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, use Behr paint whatever you do. We recently remodeled and bought some Behr and then later some Benjamin Moore. We painted with the Behr and could not get it to coat the wall:
We were painting over baby pink. I did 3 coats of Behr primer (still could see pink) and then 3 coats of Behr white paint. You can still see pink tinges in that room, but I can't bring myself to paint it one more time at present. Later, we had professionals come in and paint walls for us, and they told us how they never use Behr for the very reasons we had experienced.
On the other hand, the Ben Moore Regal covered really well... in one coat... without primer.
Behr may cost less, but it will take far more paint and sweat to get your stairs painted properly if it can me managed at all with Behr.
Also, the glossier the paint, the easier surfaces are to clean, and they absorb less water (hence people tend to use semi-gloss or gloss in bathrooms and kitchens).
Good luck hope it come out beautiful!
More Related Questions & Answers...