I’m in the process of restoring an oak staircase in a 1910 colonial and am looking for some advice with the following:
– First step has been pulling all the paint off the oak treads with the intention of staining them. It appears during some previous remodel, someone had sanded most of the stain off of some of the treads and just painted over the stain on others. I’m hoping to be able to take enough of the oak off via sanding so that all the treads look them same when stained. Any suggestions on what courseness sandpaper to use? I’m trying to get away with not having to rent an edge sander by using a belt sander, palm sander, as well as a drill with a sanding pad; any thoughts?
– The nosing on the treads has molding underneath. In order to get a nice crisp edge between the treads and risers (treads stained, risers painted), I’m planning on removing all the molding, finishing the treads, painting the risers, finishing the molding, and then tacking the finished molding to the risers again. The problem I have is that the molding appears to be glued very solidly to the nosing. Any suggestions on getting the molding off without damaging it or the nosing? I’d like to reuse the molding, but will replace it all if need be.
Thanks in advance,
Ron
Replies
I have always scraped the stairs with a hand scraper. They come in 2 sizes that I know of (1 1/2" and 2 1/2"?). I find these work best. Some will recommend paint stripper since you're dealing with paint and stain but I find the clean up and having to sit on raw/ tender stairs when working on the one above or below cannot be justified. Don't even think of sanding the paint finish off. The paint will gum up your paper... and the dust. It is closer than arms length. Yeech.
After scraping sand the treads with a random orbit sander. I like the Porter Cable 334 with the PSA pad. Hook and loop version paper gets too costly down the road. PSA paper is available in rolls and therefor much cheaper. Start with 60gr then 80, then 100. If you go any finer the poly will not be able to bond. You will have basically sealed the wood pores. Not good for this situation. Figure that each tread should take you about 45min start to finish - not all at once. Spindles/ basusters will add time. The best spent time doing this is sharpening your scrapers. They should create long 1" wide ribbons. The guys at the flooring supply store can show you how to sharpen them.
As for the trim under the tread. Break it out and replace with new. It is probable nailed with ad hoc gluing done over the years. The time you will spend on removing it in single lengths will be better spent on the scraping and finishing.
Stairs take a beating, so after you apply the last coat of finish do not walk on them with shoes for 7days.
Have some good tunes or talk radio (my preferance) and plenty of your favorite beverage (yes, NON-alcoholic) as you will perspire gallons.
Thanks a lot for your response Frankie. A couple other comments/questions:
- As for removing the paint, that has already been done using 5F5 stripper. That did a great job of removing the paint, but what's left are some treads that have been stained, others that I believe the stain was sanded off on.
- I agree with your idea about not trying to save the molding, especially since it looks fairly standard in profile. What I'm still not sure of is how to remove the pieces that appear to be solidly glued to the nosing. I tried prying off one piece and it looked as though the nosing was coming off the tread rather than the molding coming off the nosing. Any thoughts on how to separate the molding from the nosing where it's well glued? I'm thinking maybe using a sharp chisel between the two and "persuading" it with a hammer...
Ron
Sanding oak through the stain is a a lot of sanding. The scraper works even better now that the paint/ finish has been removed. 15 min/ tread now. It is the only way you are going to get into the corners anyway. But if you insist, knock yourself out with the sanding method. I just feel it's too noisey and dusty. Maybe I'm just getting old.
As for the trim piece, you can use a chisel, but one you don't mind ruining. I have a set of perfect chisels for cabinetry and 4 other sets for demolition. Guess why. Another tool would be a painters 5 in 1 tool. Looks like a putty knife with a hook or cresent in it. Be sure to get the version (6 in 1) that has a metal heel at the end of the handle so you can hammer it as needed. The point also is quite useful. They are pretty sharp when new and can always be resharpened.
Thanks for the info Frankie. I'll try the scraper as you mentioned and the 5 in 1 tool for the trim piece. I'll let you know how it comes out (will try to post a picture or two when done).
Ron