Painting a high stairwell: what's the secret?

April 23, 2023 6:42 PM

What's the trick to painting a high stairwell, besides "pay a professional"? Will one of those segmented ladders on a small platform allow me to reach the high parts?

I have seen this previous AskMe, which seems to come down on either "a pro will use scaffolding" or else "one of those folding ladders is dandy."

My stairwell is easily 14 feet at the high end. We have painted a lot and have no questions about that, but I need advice for how to reach the high parts to cut in the edges before we deploy the roller.

I have an extension ladder, 12' long when closed, but that doesn't help me with the walls at the middle of the stairs (where it's only like 9 feet high).

I also have my FiL's four-segment folding ladder, which I was planning to place on a small, wooden platform that I will build for the purpose. (This YT video suggests putting silicone on the feet, which I think is probably genius.)

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

posted by wenestvedt to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

How about an extra-long roller handle?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:46 PM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

A threaded stick that you screw your brush onto works well. Using the same paint for the walls and ceiling in a stairwell is to your advantage - you still need to cut in the corners, but you don’t need a perfect interface. Then use the stick for the roller, too.
posted by janell at 6:59 PM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: An extended roller handle will work for rolling the higher sections, but it won't help with the cutting-in and using a similar extension on a paintbrush just doesn't work for that at all.

How you reach the walls in a stairwell depends a lot on the shape of the stairwell. A straight run from one floor to another is relatively easy to reach with one or more ladders placed on an appropriate step and against the end wall, although there's always a bit that seems harder to reach somewhere in the middle. But add in corners and things can get much harder. What shape is your stairwell?
posted by dg at 7:00 PM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: It's a straight shot.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:43 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've used an edging pad on a pole before now, something like this (though I don't think that model has a pole adaptor, so you might have to shop around a bit). it's a fibre lined paint pad that you wet with paint and the plastic bit it mounts on has rollers to guide it and keep the paint off the adjoining surface.

It edged against ceilings and trim well enough for me, if not perfectly, which might be fine if the line is 18ft away from the viewer and the colours are similar, or you might have to practise a bit to do better than I did.

Given it's cheaper than a chipping in brush it seems worth an experiment.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 8:00 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

To do this kinda thing you really need a segmented ladder to do it properly...

But you really need to want to do it. Re-painting a high stairwell requires a commitment.
posted by ovvl at 8:25 PM on April 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If the ladder you have access to (four-segment folding) is something like these ladders, you can probably manage without a platform, given you can reach the highest parts with the extension ladder. With a straight staircase, you can also place your ladder up against the high wall and then use a plank from your choice of stair to the matching rung of the ladder to create a platform at the required height (or, more likely, either slightly too high or slightly too low, but it will have to do). I think this is more stable than relying on a ladder on top of a platform (although the silicon idea is, in fact, genius).

Assuming you're trimming into the corner with a different coloured paint than the ceiling, I don't think anything on a long stick is going to work. The edging pad may work if the two colours are identical or very close but, if there's any real contrast, you will need an extraordinarily level of steadiness and co-ordination to get something like that to work in your situation. One of the challenges with painting stairs is that they are often far away to reach but quite close to see, so you do need a good quality edge if you're at all fussy and that's difficult if you can't reach it.
posted by dg at 8:26 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

You can rent bakers scaffold. Two sections would get you high enough and each section breaks into three easy to move sections. Just don't use the wheels instead shim the legs with lumber to get it flat and protect your stair treads.
posted by Mitheral at 10:06 PM on April 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

Wooster Brush F6333 Lock Jaw Tool Holder
Or: paint sprayer?
- Painting Hall Stairs and Landing with A Graco Paint Sprayer
- A crisp line where your walls meets the ceiling is one of the perks of spraying your walls with a paint sprayer
- How to paint 30ft Ceilings: No scaffold Needed | Painting Interior high Walls Graco 390 Pc sprayer
- How to Spray Paint Walls and Ceilings Different Colors (allegedly saving "hours and hours of work cutting in with a paint brush")

You're a fella who knows his onions w/r/t safety, wenestvedt, but for any later readers: please, this is a two-person job, even if the second person simply observes. It's far too easy to become disoriented while working with paint and heights.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:03 PM on April 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm actually working on an stairwell refinishing project right now and what I've come up with is probably terribly unsafe but it's worked well enough for me:

I put my extension ladder near the base of the stairs, leaning up against the wall of the stairwell. I put a 3-step ladder on the landing and then use a couple of lengths of very sturdy, old 10' hardwood trim to bridge the 2 ladders. You might want to use a long stick or pole on the steps to steady yourself while you cut in the edges. Make sure that your insurance is up to date before attempting.
posted by mezzanayne at 12:19 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Iris Gambol: You're a fella who knows his onions w/r/t safety, wenestvedt

I don't mean to brag, but I was compelled to become OSHA-certified for ladder safety at work, once the university's Facilities department found out that we used a stepladder in the data center...where the ceiling is only seven and a half feet from the raised floor. *rolling-eyes emoji*
posted by wenestvedt at 7:41 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

I've found a telescopic ladder is really nice for working on stairways. There are places where one just won't do, but between a foldable and a telescopic, the ladder would work for me in more circumstances.
posted by bullatony at 4:34 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

- A crisp line where your walls meets the ceiling is one of the perks of spraying your walls with a paint sprayer
A misleading headline if I've ever seen one - the trick for getting crisp lines is to paint the ceiling, then mask the corner before painting the wall, as per the linked article. You don't need to use a spray gun to do that. I always mask lines where two colours meet, because you get a much cleaner line that way, no matter how good you are at cutting-in and it ends up quicker as well.
posted by dg at 7:57 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We found a professional who owns scaffolding and has insurance, and we're going to pay him to do it. In other words, we chickened out.
posted by wenestvedt at 2:48 PM on May 24, 2023 [2 favorites]