
Painted stair railings immediately upgrades your private home’s aesthetic and provides important worth. I’ve painted stair railings in two of my homes and the distinction was dramatic. Listed here are the steps wanted to make this job much less tedious and also you’ll end the job sooner than you assume!
If your home has builders-grade oak in every single place and you’re searching for a reasonable, high-impact dwelling improve, portray stair rails makes a dramatic impression. This challenge may be difficult and tedious so I’m sharing a couple of shortcuts that make the method a lot simpler.

My final two homes had builder’s grade orangey oak–in every single place! After making a number of errors in my first home, I discovered some beneficial classes to make my second home painted railing challenge look even higher.
Paint and Provide Checklist:
Learn how to Paint Stair Railings

Time wanted: 3 hours.
Per each 5′ of wooden railing.
- Work in Sections
Finishing smaller sections make a stair railing challenge extra rewarding and fewer overwhelming. Begin in a much less conspicuous part of railing to good your method.
- Calmly sand and clear
Sanding and cleansing ought to take 20 minutes for a 6 foot part of railing. Consider sanding as a deglossing step. Then take away all of the crumbs and sanded remnants with a moist material and permit to dry.
- Prime all railing elements
This consists of the newel publish, handrail, balusters and base rail. Making use of primer offers the paint some “tooth” to stick to. This step doesn’t have to look good, nor does it require perfection or a number of layers. Simply sufficient for the paint to stick properly. Use the primer to additionally fill open grain. Use a effective grit sandpaper to clean away bumps, drips or tough spots and wipe clear.
- Apply paint and end balusters first
I discovered that by finishing the balusters earlier than transferring on to the bottom and hand rail assist you to skip taping off every thing. I used Magnolia Residence True White Cupboard and Trim Paint on every baluster utilizing a foam brush. Doing issues on this order I discovered minimized the complexities round chopping in your darker paint within the subsequent step.
- Use artist brushes to chop in darkish paint
Use an artist brush to rapidly apply darkish paint on the underside of the handrail and the place the balusters meet the bottom rail. Artist brushes offer you a lot extra management permitting you to color round awkward corners.
- Defend railing with a high coat
Right here is how the lobby in our earlier home seemed when it was completed!

Open idea tips & extra suggestions:
Open idea suggestions // Whenever you use an extension ladder, you’ll be able to usually maintain on to the banister close to the underside then paint 1/2 approach up the baluster, then end the remaining by working from the 2nd flooring touchdown. I sat on the highest of the ladder in our household room and dipped my brushes by way of the railings. And if I wanted to face I held on to the railing always.
Work from left to proper (if proper handed) // or do the other in the event you’re left handed. Shifting on this route saves mess in your fingers because you’ll be working at odd angles across the moist balusters.
Save time by skipping the tape // I saved a lot time by utilizing an artist brush to chop in on on the high / backside of the balusters. Artist brushes offer you a lot extra management and allowed me extra flexibility when portray on the underside of the hand rail. I used painters tape on the balusters in our final home and it took without end to take away them.

Hopefully this tutorial helps you and also you keep away from among the similar errors I made with this challenge. However now that they’re completed, we love the end result (and so did our realtor who bought our home above asking value!)
