The painter's putty is for big holes, the drydex is for little holes (it's the pink stuff.)
After that was done, I was ready to sand down the stairs. I used a small electric sander. This WILL leave a fine layer of sawdust over your entire house. Close all doorways, cover the furniture, cover all possible openings with plastic. Don't forget any vents, or it will get into your AC and clog it up. I forgot. My poor AC. The filter covered and being suck up into the great beyond of the attic, it was just plain scary.
Get some goggles (like you had in science class) and a good dust mask. You will look like this:
Get some goggles (like you had in science class) and a good dust mask. You will look like this:
Boo!
Chief is not amused. He did not appreciate being stuck in the office for most of the day.
After sanding, clean the stairs. Vacuum, and wipe everything down with a damp rag. Then vacuum again, and mop. After all the cleaning, comes priming. I used a primer called Glidden Gripper Primer. You need a good primer. There are builders marks and stains on the wood. It will seep through the paint if you don't prime. It was recommended to us by a professional handyman that painted the trim on our house this spring. It did a great job. I used white for the risers and a grey primer for the treads.
It's a good idea to paint ever other step, so you can still use them while your are working on them. Use yellow sticky notes or just pieces of paper to mark the dry stairs
At this point, I kind of liked the grey! It didn't go with anything else in our house or I might have left it that color.
After the primer is dry, spackle all the spots you missed the first time. You can just hand sand this layer. Then, once again, vacuum and wipe down with a damp rag.
