Refinishing stair rails

[David Utterback]

The stair rail components in my home need to be refinished. I did the shortest section a while back and used GF Arm-R-Seal after staining the poplar with a Zar product. The results are great and holding up well.

The original finish is a contractor-grade lacquer which I removed by scraping and sanding. The spindles were mounted on a lathe which worked well but still took a lot of time. I am not looking forward to completing the remaining 30+ feet of rail and base plus almost 50 spindles and newel posts using that same technique.

I am open to painting the spindles and am wondering if there are coatings that might be compatible with the existing lacquer. If I have to remove the lacquer from the spindles, I would likely continue with the wood stain. I am also thinking about buying a 3- or 4-stage HVLP sprayer plus using water-based finishes. The re-finished section would need to be re-done to match any new application.

Would you please share your thoughts on how I might best proceed? Thanks in advance!

[Jim Becker]

Use a quality primer that features "high adhesion" over the spindles and you should be fine for painting without having to sand/degloss. Talk with the folks at a "real" paint store, like SW or BM, to get the right product for the job.

[Ron Selzer]

The stair rail components in my home need to be refinished. I did the shortest section a while back and used GF Arm-R-Seal after staining the poplar with a Zar product. The results are great and holding up well.

The original finish is a contractor-grade lacquer which I removed by scraping and sanding. The spindles were mounted on a lathe which worked well but still took a lot of time. I am not looking forward to completing the remaining 30+ feet of rail and base plus almost 50 spindles and newel posts using that same technique.

I am open to painting the spindles and am wondering if there are coatings that might be compatible with the existing lacquer. If I have to remove the lacquer from the spindles, I would likely continue with the wood stain. I am also thinking about buying a 3- or 4-stage HVLP sprayer plus using water-based finishes. The re-finished section would need to be re-done to match any new application.

Would you please share your thoughts on how I might best proceed? Thanks in advance!

Did you try lacquer thinner to remove the original finish?
Ron

[David Utterback]

Lacquer thinner is probably my least favorite solvent for health reasons although it is great for many applications. I also think that solvent removal creates greater mess and requires sanding in the end anyway. I could be wrong on both counts however. I have always been a reluctant refinisher.

[David Utterback]

Use a quality primer that features "high adhesion" over the spindles and you should be fine for painting without having to sand/degloss. Talk with the folks at a "real" paint store, like SW or BM, to get the right product for the job.

Thanks. Would that include water based primer? Could a coat of shellac be used prior to the water based primer? I am wanting to get a spray unit and try the water based products after reading several years of posts from you and others.

[Jim Becker]

I'm talking about waterborne primer for sure. I use the SW high adhesion product when that's necessary. You can certainly use a barrier coat of wax free shellac if you want to, but if you're painting, using the primer not only deals with the gloss and adhesion, it also provides a more even colored substrate for your paint. Primer can be tinted, too, which is helpful when using certain kinds of colors as top coats. White primer is not always the best choice, in other words.

BTW, be sure you thoroughly clean all those balusters before you start re-finishing them to insure there's no greasy deposits from hands/fingers, etc. 'Kinda like the kitchen thing although not usually as difficult because all of the grease is going to be from people rather than process.