Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/Restoring wood stairs

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Expert: - 10/25/2008


Question

Stairs
I have some old wood stairs in kind of rough condition, I do not want to go crazy in stripping and redoing.  Is there a quick fix to cover scratches and blemishes?  Have you ever used a product called Restorz-it?  Any recommendations?  Thank you

Answer
Hi again Rhonda
Forgot to mention that you can treat the railings and spindles of the stairs the same as the staircase.
And the wood could be cedar but it makes no difference to what you are going to do. Both are softwoods and will, as I say look a whole lot better.


Hi Rhonda
Nice to hear from you.
First question..is there a quick fix?
Answer..yes.
Bet you want to know how too LOL.
So heres how.
First off the stairs must have a real good cleaning.
I will assume there is no wax..no one would wax stairs.
So get a bottle of a good degreaser.
I use a product called Citrus Solve.
Make every attempt to get this one if you can, but if you know a better one great.
The stairs must be really really well scrubbed.
Use a medium steel wool pad as a scrubber.
Pay particular attention to the riser part as it appears well soiled.
Let dry very well.
Next get a can of Minwax stain in a color that matches the current color.
They have color charts for this to help.
Wipe on a coat with a rag. You may need a small brush to get in the corners. Wipe back excess with a clean rag.
Let this dry well.
Could take a couple of days but you can still use the stairs as I see there are treads on them (great).
After the stain has completely dried, wipe on a coat of low luster tung oil. NOT on the treads of course.
Thats it..all done.
Rhonda I see these stairs are spruce wood.
Spruce by its nature is not great wood but this will make them look very much better.
Next question..Have I ever used Restores it?
Answer No LOL...short and sweet.
Good Luck with this.
Kind Regards
Eileen

Eileen Cronk

Expertise

Hi..I can answer most questions about the repairing,stripping and refinishing of all your old furniture and wood items(the things we call antiques)I can give advice about what to buy/avoid at auctions/flea markets. I do not give appraisals on antiques.

Experience

I have been refinishing antiques for the past 30yrs. While I have taken several courses over the years,I have found that "hands on" learning is the best teacher. Perhaps I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made while learning.

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