Which paint should I use for stairs? General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[jlc]

Hi

The staircase in our house was painted white when we arrived. Lots of the paint has flaked off as the previous owners clearly just slapped on one coat of emulsion on top of what was originally there (carpet running down the middle, paint on both sides)

We can't really strip much of the paint as I've tested and found lead, so I need to give it several coats to create a solid surface. I was thinking a coat of primer, two of undercoat and two topcoat.

My main question though is what kind of top coat to use, given the amount of traffic the stairs will have. Should it be specialist floor paint? Or would something like a hardened emulsion, eg Dulux Endurance, be sufficient?

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Cheers
John

[theshedman]

Hi John, to be honest the best way to stop the flaking is to remove it all. If you don't want to do that because of the lead then you will need to try and remove the flaking bits then use a filler to make it look fairly flat. After that give it a primer coat where needed then one or two undercoats and finish with a topcoat. I would never use Emulsion on woodwork as it nearly always peels. If you use a good quality undercoat and gloss it will be as good as anything you could put on it. As it's already peeling though I think that you will always have a problem with it unless you are lucky.