What do I do with this staircase?

[Jupiter01]

Hi,

I have had my doors replaced (as seen in pic) and plan to give them a coating of osmo oil. I had a staircase which was painted white. I spent time stripping this back to the bare timber and it now looks as per picture. The stripping has involved a heatgun which means that the wood is slightly burnt in places.

Now, is there anyway of giving this any type of wood finish that will look reasonable or do I need to prime and paint white again?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ladylola]

To be honest it looks like the stairs could still do with a lot more preparation . It could just be the photo but it looks as if they are covered with (what looks like badly applied) wood stain of some kind. It really needs a good sanding down for starters.
However , from the photo it looks like the door is an oak or oak veneer type and it's most likely the stairs are going to be softwood. You can apply an oak coloured stain but it won't make softwood look like oak , the grain is just wrong for it to be anything like a match.
It thus comes down to how much money you wish to spend. Oak components are available but aren't going to be cheap , or at least in comparison to softwood, and you may have to get in a joiner to fit them. You could just replace the handrail in oak and paint the rest which seems to be in vogue at the moment.
Graining is another possibility and a good grainer can make anything look like whatever species you require. Again not cheap and it could be vulnerable to damage or wear.

 

[Jupiter01]

Thanks @ladylola.
Here's a better pic of the stairs. A significant amount of sanding has already been done. Is it possible that this cant be removed any further?

 

[Gerrydelasel]

More sanding. Get some 60 grit on there. You will wish you never started, but persevere. In a year's time you WILL have forgotton how long it took you, and only see how good it looks.

 

[Robbie uk]

Better to concentrate on the handrail and get that looking good enough to stain and have everything else white, as ladylola says its quite in at the moment. Did one yesterday which looks great.
What ever was used originally, which could have been Grained and varnished could be deep ingrained and difficult to get clean again.

 

[Robbie uk]

View media item 6781

 

[Jupiter01]

oooh, I do like that!
So lots of sanding on the handrail and then apply stain to that. Let me work on that

 

[chappers]

I prefer to have the newels from the top of the turning upwards stained too

 

[Robbie uk]

This one I did yesterday. Was all stained at first. Prepped it all, one coat of Zinsser Cover stain, then two coats of Armstead Water based gloss.

 

[ladylola]

Thanks for putting that picture up Robbie , just what I had in my mind , very contemporary at the moment. I notice in the picture that the wall behind is grey which also seems to be very much in vogue too. Did you do that as well? I've decorated a couple of jobs in grey and have recently done my own stairs and hall in grey partly at the insistence of my daughter who is at an age when she wants to bring friends home but doesn't want the house to appear old fashioned (and embarrassing !) but more up to date.

 

[Robbie uk]

Yes I did do the walls. The wall is actually a vinyl paper. Grey emulsion seem to be the trend this year, done so many kitchens and living rooms in grey. I did the stairs yesterday, all in the one day. The benefit of the Zinsser drying in an hour and the water based gloss in a similar time allows the further coats in the same day.

 

[Robbie uk]

slightly different angle.

 

[ladylola]

Nice everything coordinating even the furniture but strangely missing the couple of boxes of tools that live in my hallway most nights

 

[misterhelpful]

Nice job there Robbie, but I have to admit that I couldn't live in a house with those 'colours'...way to clinical looking for a home to me.

 

[ladylola]

Funny you should say clinical , as I said I've redecorated my own hall stairs and landing in grey , actually a light grey above a darker shade separated by a black dado line and when my sister in law came round she said it looked like a doctors waiting room! Remedied now by replacing the line with a timber dado and recounting the section below with a darker shade.