How to Paint Stair Railings that Last

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Tired of the look of your stair railings and banister? Learn how to paint stair rails and balusters for an inexpensive upgrade to your home’s aesthetic that also adds significant value when done well.

When we installed new hardwood floors, I was shocked at the price to replace the balusters, railings, and steps. $200 per step and the railings would add several thousand dollars to our project.

That was pretty far outside my budget, so a $50 can of paint looked mighty enticing for painting railings and the balusters. Painting them would be an inexpensive, but high impact upgrade!

Stairwell railings are high-traffic areas. They will be touched, leaned on, and perhaps an occasional child who seems to think they are some new style of jungle gym (or is that just mine?!). This project is a little different from painting other surfaces in the home, so I am sharing tips to make the process easier and last for years to come!

Painting oak stairs in modern traditional home with post title .

Supplies Needed and Recommendations

Over years of remodeling homes, I have developed my no-fail list of products for painting tricky surfaces:

TSP or Degreaser
Orbital Palm Sander with 120 or 220 grit sandpaper
Sanding blocks – I like the ones with the angled edge.
Stainblocking Primer – Premium or Adhesion is my never-failed-me-ever primer. I don’t use original or any other brand although I have tried several.
Fine Paintbrushes – A fine furniture paint brush will give you the best finish. In fact, I often use takylon brushes from the craft store for detail work.
Clean, dry lint-free rags
Wood Filler – Only for imperfections or filling old hardware
Benjamin Moore Advance

Tools for painting furniture including orbital sander, sanding pads and blocks, and adhesive primer

Note: It is too much work to pull out and reinstall stair rails and balusters so I paint them with a brush. This is why I recommend a good quality brush to minimize strokes. I did detach the single hand rail on the right wall.

Even after a few years of use, the paint looks almost perfectly new!

How to Paint Stair Railing and Spindles

Step 1: Cleaning and Prepping

As with any DIY project, preparation is key to success!

First, everything should be cleaned thoroughly with a degreaser that won’t leave a film. teaspoon works very well, but other readily available cleaners work just as well. Use a microfiber or tack cloth to remove any dirt, debris, and grime.

Step 2: Maximum Bond

Hand rails are probably one of the most high trafficked surface in your home. Therefore, they NEED to be as durable as possible. I recommend that the rails and balusters be sanded to achieve a proper bond. Hand sanding all of this is certainly the worst part of the job, but you really just need to “rough-up” the surface.

Side by side comparison showing how much to sand stair rails for painting.

Tips:

There is no need to remove all of the previous varnish and stain. Just remove the glossy finish.
Use 120 grit sandpaper or 80 grit sanding sponges.
Flat surfaces can be sanded with an orbital sander to make it faster and easier.
Try to sand in the direction of the grain.
I usually sand the hand rail where people grab the most a little extra.

Step 3: High Bond Primer (if necessary)

Tape off the spindles first to get a nice edge. Then after a few days of letting the black paint dry, I taped off the rails and painted the spindles.

Tape on hand rails to paint with a clean edge. — Note: This was taped after painting to show how I tape the spindles.

In my experience, there are a few paints where you can skip priming – Chalk Paint and Fusion Mineral. I will say I don’t like chalk paint for a project like this.

There are, however, situations that I would still use a high-quality stain-blocking primer:

Painting over dark surfaces (i.e. navy or black) with a light or white color.
Bad stains like deeply embedded oil or markers.
Rails with knots in the wood such as knotty pine. <- This is uncommon.

However, if you use other paints, 1 coat of primer is all you need for good coverage and sealing. After using many, many primers, this series of Kilz is my never fail go-to primer.

In progress of painting oak wood stairwell with a new, black finish

Step 4: Types of Paint

Since handrails are such a high traffic surface, I recommend a hard enamel-type paint in a satin or semi-gloss finish. Flat or matte paints are generally more likely to blemish and can be harder to clean.

My go to paint for hand rails is Benjamin Moore Advance. There are some other paints that I would use, however, they are either more expensive (Sherwin Williams Emerald Line and Benjamin Moore Grand Entrance), have mixed reviews even if I haven’t had a problem (Behr Cabinet Paint), or limited colors (Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations).

Pros of these types of paints:

Hardest Finish that will last!
No primer needed unless you have stains or knotty wood.
Does not need a topcoat for durability.
Smooth self-leveling paint
Easy to wipe and keep clean (if in a satin or semi-gloss finish)

For this particular project, I used the pre-mixed Advance paint. A quart was more than enough for all of our stair railings. Closeup of Satin Black in Benjamin Moore Advance:

Closeup of paint without brush strokes on newel post and cap in stairwell

All-in-all, it took me about 4 days to do the railing above, two long hand rails attached to the walls, and two smaller sections of banister on the opposite side. I am so happy with the results!

Before and after of painted stair railing.

Step 5: Paint Curing Time

In my experience, BM advance does cure pretty fast. In the dead of winter (low humidity), the Benjamin Moore paint cured in only a few days. However, don’t depend on those results.

I pleaded with everyone in the house not to touch the railings for a week until I was sure they would be able to withstand it. True cure time can take up to a month or more if you live in a high-humidity region.

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Completed oak painted stair railing with black handrail and white balusters.

Expert Tips to Get the Best Finish

The best paint for painting railings, in my experience, is Benjamin Moore Advance. Unless you have raw wood, it doesn’t require priming! It levels beautifully without brush strokes.
These are my Favorite Brushes that are soft and don’t leave brush strokes. You can get smaller ones like these paint brushes at Michael’s craft store for under $10.
Use a one-inch brush to paint details. This makes the paint even, stroke free, and less likely to drip than a larger brush.
Sand and paint in the direction of the grain.
Always tape off areas you don’t want to paint. It’s faster, easier, and looks much more professional no matter how steady the hand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of paint do you use on stair railings?

My go to paint for hand rails is Benjamin Moore Advance. There are some other paints listed in the article that I would use. The most durable paints will be a satin or high-gloss sheen. Do not use a flat paint like chalk paint (unless you use a protective top coat like polyurethane) on a high traffic piece such as a kitchen table or stair railings.

Is it better to paint or stain stair railing?

You can paint or stain a stair railing with durable results if you use a durable top coat like polyurethane.

Do I need to sand railings before painting?

Because stair railings are one of the most touched surfaces in a home, it is highly recommended to sand first.

Weekend DIY project. A pegboard organizer in the craft room above the desk workspace.

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Comments

Millicent Estep says

May 04, 2022 at 9:12 am

Hi there, I have stripped my wide hand railings in our beach house and used wood filler in some of the gouched areas. The railings have sat for over a year like this, since I am unsure of what products to use. I want to go for a stained look on the wide hand railings. I used just a white paint in the past and it just doesnt seem to work. I planned on the following the steps:
1. Which wood cleaner to remove oils from our hands and dust?
2. Clear Kilz since I want a stained look
3. Which stain would you recommend?
4 Which sealer would you recommend?
Your advice and help is greatly appreciated. Would love to talk.
Your help is greatly appreciated, since is the second time in 8 years that I stripped my railings. Oils from our hands have peeled off the paint where our hands hit the railings.

- Rachel says
  
  May 07, 2022 at 9:37 pm
  
  Paints have changed greatly over the last 8 years and many have increased their durability to equal or above stain + polyurethane. So that is still an option if you like, but it is highly important to get the right products no matter which way you go. Buying a can of wall paint from the local home improvement store definitely results in heartache for a project like this. I will answer your questions in the same order you asked.
  1. Any good degreaser that doesn’t leave a residue will work. I have used TSP, simple green, krud kutter, etc and they all work fine. Just make absolutely sure no residue is left as that will soak into any exposed wood. I clean before sanding/stripping.
  2. If staining, you don’t need a primer like kilz at all.
  3. The only stain I don’t like at all is anything called Gel Stain. I hate how it looks and how it feels. Brands like varathane, sherwin williams, general finishes, and minwax are fine. Finding the color you like best is the harder part. I do like to use a wood conditioner first sometimes, but not always necessary.
  4. Check with a particular sealer that it is compatible with stain. Most oil based polyurethane are compatible with stain and some water-borne or water based polyurethanes are but not all. For poly, I really like Bona Floor Poly. It has a beautiful matte option and not too bad to work with and level. Bona Traffic HD has the highest durability and is considered commercial grade which means it’s good enough for busy restaurants and retail stores, so it will certainly hold up in a home. They have a few different products for different types of projects, and different price points.
  
  I hope that helps and feel free to ask any follow up if you need!
  
Nancy says

March 29, 2022 at 3:25 pm

I need to use Sherwin Williams paint. I have looked at the Emerald line of paints and am confused as to which one I use. My stair handrails are current stained with a gloss finish and my island is painted with oil-based paint. All of the Emerald paints are latex. Can I use latex paint over these two surfaces if I use the Kilz? Which Emerald do you recommend? The reviews are mixed – any tips?

- Rachel says
  
  March 30, 2022 at 8:52 pm
  
  I completely understand. Sherwin Williams keeps changing and adding new paints and lines (some you have to special order!). The one that I have used on cabinets is the Emerald Urethane. However, I am always trying to test new products. I am currently waiting on a backorder of Sherwood CAB Acrylic Lacquer to try with Insl-x Cabinetcoat (from Home Depot) because I hear great things about it as well.

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Supplies Needed and Recommendations