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How to Paint High Stairwells

Excessively tall staircase paint jobs that require scaffolding might be best left to the experts. For moderately tall jobs, a few easy steps will have the walls and ceilings looking new in no time.

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Board Drop cloth Foam ladder tips Goggles Ladder, extension Masking tape Paint roller Paint Paintbrush, synthetic bristle sash Plastic sheeting

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How to Paint High Stairwells

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" It's time to paint the stairwell. But the question is, how are you going to reach the high walls and ceiling? If the ceilings are very high or the staircase is very large, it may require setting up scaffolding and hiring professional painters. But for modest staircases, here's the trick. 1st, cover the stairs with a drop cloth. Be careful once the drop clothes are in place as they can make the stairs quite slippery to walk on. Then, place an extension ladder with the feet firmly against the stair riser, and leaned it back facing the 2nd story wall. To avoid damaging the walls, make sure that the tops of the ladder are covered with foam tips. Now, slide a 2 x 8 board through the rungs of the ladder and rest the other end of the step on the staircase so that the board is level. Place some padding under the board to avoid scratching the step. By adjusting the height of the board, you can often reach both the ceiling and the high parts of the stairwell wall. If you're going to paint the ceiling 1st, tape plastic sheeting to the wall with masking case, which will protect the walls from ceiling spatter. 1 long piece of tape will mask the wall as well as hold the final drop cloth in place. Also mask any other lights or smoke detectors that are on the ceiling. Once the walls and floors are protected, apply the ceiling paint with a roller attached to an extension pole. This will allow you to cover more area without resetting your painting platform. Roll slowly so that you don't spatter pain on yourself and the stairwell below. When the ceiling is dried, remove the plastic sheeting protecting the walls. Pull slowly on the masking tape to avoid tearing the paint off the wall. Now start painting the walls of the stairwell by cutting into the ceiling. Use a good sash brush. The bristles on the edge of a sash brush are cutted at an angle. A sash brush is used only to paint edges such as trim and sashes. Dip the sash brush a half an inch into your paint bucket. Gently remove the excess paint from both sides of the brush. Placing a slight pressure on the bristles, guide the tip of the brush along the edge of the ceiling. Working slowly, you can cut in the wall color right up to the edge of the ceiling without ever using a masking tape. You can use a roller to paint the rest of the stairwell from the platform you've set up. With your walls painted and your platform stored away, your stairwell is bright and fresh and ready to use."

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