Painting stairs?

babyemily

Has anyone ever painted their stairs before? I really cannot put down carpet as my daughter is autistic and cannot stand the feel of it also she pulls it up !!! What paint would you recommend and would it last/look ok in a house with kids/cats/dogs etc...Many Thanks.

nickj_2

you can paint them in undercoat and gloss or satinwood or if they haven't been painted before , varnish , i painted a house where the owner had the stairs done in a metalic silver paint with the words of an elvis song on the risers , bear in mind that they will be slippery if your walking in socks . if done properly should stand up to wear and tear

ormus

you should never paint stair treads with varnish nor a gloss type paint.
if you must paint/color them, use a water based stain.

linni

We painted our stairs a few years ago because we couldn't afford carpets. I was really worried about slipping but we've never had a problem with it. Also we were surprised how good it looked, so we've never bothered getting carpet. I'll ask hubby what paint we used and will report back later.

phill99

It wasn't that many years ago that only wealthy people had carpet on their stairs. Less wealthy people just painted / stained them. Mine have been painted by previous occupants and I toook my stair carpet up a couple of years ago and still haven't go round to recarpeting and have bever had any problems with slipping.

Just make sure they are well sanded and that you use a good quality oil based undercoat and a decent quality top coat.

ormus

just remember,
800 people die every year, falling down the stairs.

squiggles

Have a look on google images for 'painted stairs' there is lots of ideas if you are feeling creative, do not know how robust or safe they would be once painted though.

mharzuk

I used a nice green shed paint on mine, its a matt finish and not slippy at all. Needs a bit of touching up now in a couple of places but its been on for a couple of years. HTH

Francesanne

Apart from the safety element of painting stairs, wouldn't it be very noisy without carpet?

drusilla

I don't know how much you have to spend but have you seen the laminate type covers for stairs? I can't think of a website but I have seen them and they look okay.

linni

Sorry for being late in getting back to you. I forgot to ask hubby. He used undercoat and then a satin acrylic paint from B&Q. I had all the worries too about noise and slipping down the stairs but mine usually wear slippers anyway so noise isn't a problem and they not slipped (yet!). It's been down for about 4 years now and the paint hasn't chipped, just needs a good wash every now and then. Also, in Lidl from16th May, they have little rubber 'anti slip' mats that go on the edge of the stairs. I've never used them, but they are £2.49 each. Good luck whatever you decide to do.