How to paint steep stairway walls

[MikeMcCoy]

I can't stand my new construction tacky white color and have repainted the entire house except for the stair well. Really steep and it has a sharp turn right at the middle. Rather than do it in my normal over think mode, I googled for a simple but safe way to access the walls. I won't critique the ladies theatrical skills, but the how-to was good for a smile as well as a simple solution.

http://revver.com/video/1323107/how-to-paint-walls-over-a-stairway/

[Ed62]

That would work until the ladder slipped just a little.

Ed

[Mr__Bill]

That was much saner than my solution. We have a duplex rental with a shared stairway to the basement, it's a straight run but two stories high at the end. For the ceiling and top of the walls I made a splint for the ladder, one leg is in a box that extends it for the length of two steps. It has a rubber foot on it but the thing tends to fall off when moving the ladder since the bottom of the leg just sits in the extension. After I do the ceiling and edge the top and corners in I use a roller on a really long pole to finish off the wall.


The link also has some instructionals on how to do body painting. I have always wanted to try that, not that I have any talent in the art department but trying would be fun.

Only things is, after the snake I doubt that anyone will open this link if I pass it on to them.

Bill, on the Sunny Oregon Coast

[crokett]

The link also has some instructionals on how to do body painting. I have always wanted to try that, not that I have any talent in the art department but trying would be fun.

Bill, on the Sunny Oregon Coast

I, for one, have no wish to see pictures of your painted body.

[Tom Slick]

What happens when you are 10' up the stairs and step off the bottom rung and 10" of stair tread? YIKES!

I think I'd spray it with a really long tip extension.

[thrytis]

I have painting the walls and ceiling over the stairs on my todo list. The best that i came up with is to do is something similar, but instead of doing the small block under one leg, make a platform that would span three or so steps. Since my steps are carpeted, i was going to put some tacks on the bottom to keep it from sliding. Last, i was going to attach a rope to the platform and a 2x4 braced across the top of the steps. I don't want the platform moving around when i'm 15' up!

[Daryl]

I am happy with mine so far. I think this is one of those occasions where cleaning up a Wagner roller or pad system would be worth the bother.

[germdoc]

I hired someone to paint my 2-story stairwell before I moved. My health insurance and disability benefits are not quite adequate to compensate for a 30-foot fall...

[Rich P]

I place an regular step ladder on a lower stair step and lean it against a wall (the steps are parallel with the stair treads). I then run a 2 x 12 plank from a higher step onto an appropriate rung in the ladder, clamp the plank to the ladder and carefully walk along the plank to do the cutting in. After that, it's fairly easy with a roller and long pole. In my case I have a an "L" shaped stairway with a wall at the foot of the stair and one at the landing so this may not work for you.

[MikeMcCoy]

I tried the plank thing and there was just too much of an angle due to the steep profile for my stairs. When I first tried that, I managed to hang on to the paint can when everything started to come down and fortunately didn't break any glass in the door that I hit. That is why I was originaly looking for an alternative. I made a box this evening but it will straddle two steps instead of one.

[Ed62]

I made a box this evening but it will straddle two steps instead of one.

That sounds much better. Good luck with painting.

Ed

[chrisk]

Articulated ladders have a great advantage when painting stairs, just extend one side of the a-frame longer than the other and the surface is level. (My Gorrilla adder is 9 ft at its tallest point as an A-frame.

I also have ladder leg extensions on of my extension ladders. Worked well painting my house on varying grade last summer. You can adjust one leg to be longer than the other and level the ladder out. Cost $40 at Home Depot.