Thought painting stair risers would be a quick weekend job... nope

I decided to paint the risers on my 13-step staircase white to brighten up the hall, figuring it'd take maybe 4 hours total. Ended up spending three full weekends (about 25 hours) because I had to sand, prime, and do two coats between all the bannister spindles and weird angles. Anyone else have a "simple" paint job that turned into a whole project?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley93922d ago

I saw a tip from a guy online who said to use a small foam roller for stair risers instead of a brush. He claimed it cut his time in half because you don't have to go back and smooth out brush marks. Idk if it would've helped with all the fiddly bits near the spindles though, that part is just brutal no matter what you use. Maybe it's just me but I feel like any "simple" paint job in an old house ends up being a whole ordeal.

piper_green22d ago

Are you kidding me? A foam roller for stair risers? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen unless you want splatter all over the new treads. I can just picture trying to get that thing into the corner near the wall without leaving a huge mess. You're right about old houses too, @finley939. Every time I tell myself something will be quick I end up spending three days patching holes from 1920s wallpaper removal.