What tools do I need to sand my stairs please? Update with pics

avstar

My tips for anyone thinking of doing a similar project would be
Def get a belt sander/mouse-type sander, they were invaluable and really made the job quicker and gave a good finish.

Dust-sheets everywhere - I bought a couple of cheapie plastic ones from B&Q and hung them up with masking tape, they cut down on a lots of dust, altho I'm still finding it weeks later

Alternate stairs - when I did the woodstain/varnish on the treads I did alternate stairs put pieces of paper down on the ones we were allowed to walk on. meant we could still use the stairs without being trapped up (or down) :rotfl:

I used B&Q own waterbased undercoat & paint on the skirting, and B&Q waterbased woodstain and Ronseal Diamond-hard waterbased varnish on the stairs, dries much quicker and seems to be v hardwearing. I was concerned the waterbased varnish seems to have v tiny bubbles in it, but I'm glad as you can't really see them they are so tiny, but do provide a bit of 'grip'. (I was worried about slippy stairs)

In all I spent about £230, that included both sanders and extra stripper, woodstain & varnish from changing my mind. So it wasn't exactly cheap (altho I do have 2 sanders for future use) but will hopefully last longer than carpet and I love it. :T

Idonex

avstar wrote: »

Ok I thought I'd give you an update on the stairs palarver

Well I did strip the old paintwork off the treads and skirting with paint stripper - evil stuff but worked a treat. The t'other half sanded the treads with a belt sander and I did the nooks and crannies with a mouse type sander - both from B&Q.

I then stained the treads with woodstain, painted the risers and skirting white and varnished the treads..........

We worked so hard and then I decided I didn't like it after all :eek:



You can't tell here but because the stairs are old the join between the treads and risers was a bit gappy and looked awful, it started getting dirty scuff marks on the white almost immediately, plus it reminded me of a zebra crossing :rotfl:

So after much wailing and gnashing of teeth I stripped off the white paint from the risers using paint stripper and tons of masking tape, sanded and then stained and varnished the risers....now I love it
So I got there in the end but I spent far more time, effort & money thank I needed trying to be artistic!




I kept the bottom riser white to give a break between the dark woodstain and the laminate

Can i ask what sander you used? I bought a Bosch hand sander from B&Q to do some other sanding work and it's useless...

muskoka

I know your not asking me, but we used JCB Palm Sander from B & Q. Cost £59 & worked for us a treat. We did try a cheap & cheerful palm sander but it wasnt man enough for the job

tizerbelle

tony6403 wrote: »

Renovation and removal of old lead-containing paints

7.1) Introduction
Regardless of who carries out the work, it is imperative that:

• all steps are taken

What?! They take the steps - how are you supposed to get upstairs?

avstar wrote: »

We worked so hard and then I decided I didn't like it after all :eek:

Avstar, I agree - the two tone didn't look right - so well done on not just living with it as many do. The second style looks so much better. Bet you're feeling quite smug (in a good way) right now.

avstar

Idonex I'll check out the sanders when I get home tonight - they weren't Bosch I know that, but can't remember the make, we really needed the belt sander to carve off the worn treads down to nice clean wood, and used the mouse (palm?) sander to do the corners, risers etc.

We went for the power/wattage rather than the make.

The belt sander is a beast - I was going to do that bit myself but I couldn't control the damn thing, it needed a film hand from t'other half to keep it under control. :rotfl:

Ta Tizerbelle, yes I'm much happier now, it was really bugging me walking past them and grizzling to myself, I stuck it for a couple of weeks and I knew it wasn't going to grow on me.

T'other half was away with his job for a few days and I was a bit bored so I re-did the stairs...I worked like a dog and didn't say anything to him on the phone, he was gobsmacked when he got back :rotfl:

avstar

Both sanders are Performance Power, I think its B&Qs own make (I got a belt sander and a detail sander).