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kulrblind · 08-13-2004, 07:27 AM

Ever wanted to strip back a painted stairwell?

OF COURSE YOU HAVEN'T! And this is why...

A little background might be in order. We purchased a house last summer, and peeled back the hideous green carpet to find a painted stairwell (shown below). I had always planned to strip the paint and stain the stairs, but it took a while to get the project underway as my wife was pregnant, and now we've got a five month old in the house (not exactly a stripper-fume friendly house, if you know what I mean).

I thought I would share with you the joys of stripping a stairwell. For the most part, I've used a combination of a regular paint scraper, and two types of liquid/gel strippers: Supa-Stripper, and another brand which is eco-friendly, but whose name escapes me.

I'm only partially finished so far (it's August 13th, 2004), but I'll update it when I make more progress.

Picture 1 - the painted stairwell. Obviously someone put a vinyl runner down at one point and just painted around it. Oh, how I miss the 70's.

Picture 2 - blurry, but blame the crappy digital camera. You may be able to see that most of the treads are done, but the risers are yet to come. That pile of goop you see on the second stair is actually the melted away paint. The treads are by far the easiest, since you don't have to worry about toxic stripper running all over the place.

Picture 3 - The top stairs and the new hardwood installed upstairs. I'm starting to think I should have just replaced the whole stairwell at this point. Anyway, here you get a closeup of the treads and a start on the risers. Note: There were FIVE layers of paint to strip away. FIVE!

Picture 4 - About mid-way down the stairwell, each riser is about three quarters completed, but will need at least one more application of stripper before I even dare take a sander to them (friction + paint = gummed-up orbital sander)

Well, that's about it for now. Like I said, I'll report back when I make better progress. At least when it was painted, we could live with them. Now that they're in mid-renovation stages, they're even uglier -- which is probably going to serve as the impetus to finish.

If anyone knows of a REALLY good paint stripper, feel free to post it here or PM me.

08-13-2004, 07:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
kulrblind plays well with others Location: Canada	Stripping! (paint) Ever wanted to strip back a painted stairwell? OF COURSE YOU HAVEN'T! And this is why... A little background might be in order. We purchased a house last summer, and peeled back the hideous green carpet to find a painted stairwell (shown below). I had always planned to strip the paint and stain the stairs, but it took a while to get the project underway as my wife was pregnant, and now we've got a five month old in the house (not exactly a stripper-fume friendly house, if you know what I mean). I thought I would share with you the joys of stripping a stairwell. For the most part, I've used a combination of a regular paint scraper, and two types of liquid/gel strippers: Supa-Stripper, and another brand which is eco-friendly, but whose name escapes me. I'm only partially finished so far (it's August 13th, 2004), but I'll update it when I make more progress. Picture 1 - the painted stairwell. Obviously someone put a vinyl runner down at one point and just painted around it. Oh, how I miss the 70's. Picture 2 - blurry, but blame the crappy digital camera. You may be able to see that most of the treads are done, but the risers are yet to come. That pile of goop you see on the second stair is actually the melted away paint. The treads are by far the easiest, since you don't have to worry about toxic stripper running all over the place. Picture 3 - The top stairs and the new hardwood installed upstairs. I'm starting to think I should have just replaced the whole stairwell at this point. Anyway, here you get a closeup of the treads and a start on the risers. Note: There were FIVE layers of paint to strip away. FIVE! Picture 4 - About mid-way down the stairwell, each riser is about three quarters completed, but will need at least one more application of stripper before I even dare take a sander to them (friction + paint = gummed-up orbital sander) Well, that's about it for now. Like I said, I'll report back when I make better progress. At least when it was painted, we could live with them. Now that they're in mid-renovation stages, they're even uglier -- which is probably going to serve as the impetus to finish. If anyone knows of a REALLY good paint stripper, feel free to post it here or PM me.