Q: What is the easiest way to remove white primer off of stair railing? Removing primer from wood? Everyone said to paint them white, but it looks horrible. We want to stain them Red Oak; however, we’re having a problem because the stain looks too dark and doesn’t match the rest of stairs.
That’s why we went to white, but we hate it, and want to try staining again.
A: I would think chemical stripping followed by a lot of hand sanding and scraping.
Related Q: I had carpet on my stairs since I bought my home. I pulled off the carpet. I want to stain the treads. For some reason stairs are covered with white primer. Please tell me the best way to clean off the white primer in order to stain the stairs.
A: If this is a latex or acrylic primer it should be fairly easy to remove with an orbital or random orbit sander. Start with a 40, 50 or 60 grit and then go 80 and 100. You will likely also need a hand scraper and fine tooth file (to sharpen the blade) to scrape in the corners down to clean wood.
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