How to Refinish Hardwood Stairs

Stairs channel foot traffic and are certainly going to be the most worn and torn bit of flooring in your house. A hardwood set of stairs is likely to require refinishing twice as often as hardwood flooring, assuming it is not protected by carpeting. Refinishing flooring seems like an intimidating task, but it is actually very straightforward and requires only a middling amount of patience and elbow grease.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Indoor respirator mask
• Power hand sander
• Power sanding edger (optional)
• Manual hand sander
• Sandpaper
• Brushes
• Stain
• Lacquer
• Replacement hardwood planks (optional)
• Pliers
• Replacement molding (optional)
• Buck knife or carpenter's plane

1. Examine your stairs closely. It is possible there are gouges or scratches in the wood that are too deep for any practical amount of sanding to remove. You need to check for these and consider what to do: minimize them with sanding and live with them, minimize them and obscure them with a dark stain or replace the entire stair plank with a fresh piece of wood.

2. Pull up any wiring running along your stairs that will be in your way.

3. Decide if you want to remove any decorative molding before starting your sanding. Strictly speaking, this is not absolutely necessary. If the molding is firmly nailed into place, it will withstand a little sanding. If the molding is damaged, it will necessarily need to be removed and replaced later.

4. Sand the step planks, using a the power edging sander. This power tool applies more sanding action than the regular hand power sander, and it will do a much better job of working your flat, horizontal surfaces. You will want to use a coarse grain of sandpaper to bring up the layers of lacquer, stained wood and scratches and then smooth it using a finer grain of sandpaper. Hard-to-reach corners can be done using a hand power sander and manual hand sander. Remember to keep an eye on and replace your sandpaper as necessary. You will most likely be renting these power tools, and the hardware store should offer you a tutorial in their use.

5. Sand the riser planks. The power edger is too heavy for all but the strongest to employ on a vertical surface, so use the hand power sander on this and the manual hand sander for spots that cannot be reached with it.

6. Remove stubborn bits of lacquer and stain. You will find some bits won't come up no matter what you do. Small stubborn bits can be removed with a sharp buck knife, but anything bigger than a couple of thumbnails should be removed using a carpenter's plane. Sand the newly expose wood again but only with the fine grain.

7. Cut and nail in new molding if you have replaced any damaged molding.

8. Clean the wood surface of dust and then stain it as desired. Use a brush and never a roller. Let this dry.

9. Clean the dried stairs again, as dust will have likely settled during your wait. Use a brush to apply polyurethane lacquer. As the stairs are a highly trafficked area, you will need to apply at least three layers for the extra protection or use a "high build" lacquer in two layers. "High build" is composed to dry in thicker layers.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear a protective breathing mask or respirator. Even a small sanding job like your stairs will create an enormous amount of harmful sawdust and lacquer or stain particles.