We have recently given a major make over to A huge amount of Balustrades in a older style home.
Painting previously stained balustrade can prove to be a challenge. Not only with the length of time it can take, (it took us 3 days by hand!) but also with the process of what to paint first. Timber staining can also prove to be an issue, causing unsightly staining on your newly painted stair balustrade.
This post will show you how to prevent the staining issue, paint the balustrade efficiently and the material element of what to use.
Preparation
The secret to decorating is all about preparation. Anyone can put a brush into paint and paint any surface. The secret to it lasting, protecting your surface and staying looking good is proper preparation.
In this instance I used 120 grit Aluminium Oxide glass paper attached to my sander. This allows for dust free sanding, very important to health and keeping a nice clean job. Don’t go crazy with the sander, just enough to provide a key.
If your balustrade is currently painted with gloss varnish, then you would need provide a stronger key, so more sanding would then be required.
You may also find that the newel posts and ball may be dirty from peoples hands over the years. This will clog up the sand paper very quickly. The best way to sand this is to first use the sander, then a new piece of glass paper and finish the rest of by hand. You can try and wash this down if you so desire, but I find to sand it off easier and more effective
Painting
Apply a primer either using brush, rad roller pipe roller or spray. I opted to paint by hand because it is intricate work but the overall is look is more finished…it does take time. The alternative is to use a pipe roller as this is also a fast application method.
Priming
Tannin is the technical name for staining that bleeds through paintwork. To prevent tannin, solvent based primers work really well. In the old days, all we had was oil based undercoat. This does 2 jobs for me. Provides a strong adhesion key, dries quickly and because of the solvent borne properties prevents tannin from showing through.
With varnish or stained timber one of the main issues is to make sure the adhesion key is strong. Chipping the top coat off and scratching the top coat will show the dark brown colour through. Strong adhesion primers prevent this.
Any knots on the timber will have to be treated by applying a knot stop solution. If not the knots will show through.
