Staining Stair- Part 4

After removing carpet (here), removing varnish (here), and sanding (here) your stairs will be ready for staining.

Remember I had trouble with the wood filer (here).

SO my stairs look like this before staining.

SUPPLIES:

-Mask

-Foam Brush (Not pictured)

-Brush

-Wood Stain

-Polyurethane

-Paint stirrer

-Cloth

Pick the stain and make sure you read your stains directions. The stain we picked was Kona by Rust-Oleum and Polyurethane by Rust-Oleum, because it was the color my husband wanted.  Next you will stir your stain. I used a foam brush to apply stain because it did not waste as much stain and could get into the corners, I would recommend a 2 inch brush (I only had a 1 inch on hand).

With my stain, I would apply coat and let sit for 5-10 minutes then wipe off with a cloth.

Make sure you wipe off all extra stain.

I was finding that my cloth had a lot of stain on it so I started rubbing the stair with cloth before applying stain but you do not have to do this.

MAKE sure you do one stair, skip one, then do another stair, this way you will have somewhere to sit.

Stairs after first stain

I decided to do two coats of stains. Here is the difference between one and two.

After finishing stain, let your stairs sit for at least 24 hours. 

Now you are going to apply the polyurethane. (Follow directions for your polyurethane) 

After stirring, I used the paint brush and applied one coat then let it dry 2 hours then apply another coat. I applied 3 coats. Here is a picture with 3 coats and no coats, see the difference.

After finishing all coats, you need to let dry for at least 24 hours before walking. But again make sure you read your containers directions. 

Here are my stairs all stained.

They are dark but still turned out great.

Next is painting...