Embedded Files
My most recent project was this new staircase that was built by a builder that I work quite closely with, it comprised of 30 untreated square spindles and a solid oak banister rail. The client wanted the spindles, base rail and stringers to be white and a dark wood stain on the banister rail. I decided to spray the white mainly for the quality of the finish that it provides, by spraying I made sure that there where no brush marks in the final finish.
Looking at what is being painted it doesn't look like a big job but to ensure a beautiful, long lasting finish there is quite a bit of work involved.
The first thing that needed to be done is dealing with the knots in the untreated timber spindles. Knots in timber hold resin inside that bleeds through paint and causes discolouration in the finish if they are not properly sealed. So before any painting can start every knot must be sealed with knotting solution.
As this was a new staircase there were gaps around every spindle where they went into the base rail and pin holes were the carpenter had nailed certain things into place so the next thing to do is to fill those gaps and pin holes with wood filler. Some pins where not fired all the way in and where a little proud so they had to be punched in before filling to make sure the finish product was flat.
Although most of the staircase was new the stringers where not and had bin previously coated in wood stain, like the knots in the wood this needed to be sealed before it can be painted white or the stain would bleed through and cause the final finish to discolour.
Now that the prep-work was done it was time to think about surface protection. As I was spraying the spindles i needed to make sure no over spray hit the walls or floor, to do this I masked any parts that met a wall with masking paper witch is 30cm wide giving me plenty of protection on the walls. The downstairs floor was laminate so I used hard floor protector to shield it from overspray, this is a roll of plastic that is adhesive on one side so that it sticks to the floor. The landing was carpeted so to protect this I laid down dust sheets and tucked them under the masking paper along the base rail.
As the banister rail was being stained this needed to be protected too, I covered the top with a masking paper with an adhesive side the taped around each spindle with a high quality precision masking tape.
You my think that even with all this that surly paint would still go everywhere with a sprayer but there is still a couple of things to do to make sure you dont cover the clients house in paint.
First is to make sure you are using the right type of sprayer for the job. I used my HVLP sprayer, This stands for 'High Volume Low Pressure' witch mean it uses a high volume of air at a low pressure so the paint doesn't come out very fast meaning it is a lot more controllable.
While spraying the spindles I also hang a sheet of foam down the opposite side to the one im am painting so that instead of going in-between the spindles and into the air the paint hits the foam.
Once all the prep work is finished it was time for a first coat of undercoat. Once the first coat of primer is dry I gave each spindle a light sand with a fine sand paper to smooth off any rough sections of timber. It also allows me to check over every spindle to make sure that all the knots where properly sealed, if I found any that where bleeding through I would have spot primed them with the primer I used to seal the wood stained stringers. I then sprayed on a second coat of undercoat. Once the second coat was dry I gave each spindle a light sand again before applying the first finish coat. Sanding not only smooths off rough areas it also 'key's' the surface this means that it makes it easier for the next coat to adhere to the surface.
I then applied two coats of my chosen finish paint witch was a water based enamel in a matt finish. I chose this paint for its durability, as an enamel it is very hard wearing and can withstand the wear and tear of a busy stair case. Also because it is water based the paint wont yellow over time like solvent based paints, another advantage to using a water based paint is that they don't have a strong smell and are fast drying witch means they don't make the clients house smell like solvent and the clients don't have to be careful around the painted area for a long period of time.
Now that I was finished with the spindles and the sprayer I needed to take off all the masking tape and paper. Once this was done I gave the hand rail a light sand before applying two coats of walnut wood stain to the hand rail and finishing the job.
And hear are the before and afters, the job lasted four and a half days and ended with another very happy client that made enquiries about potentially doing a re-spray of their kitchen cupboards before I left.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse