This project has been on our “to do” list for years…
Ever since we moved into our home 12 years ago, I knew I wanted to get rid of the Oak banisters. But of course, life, children and other more pressing and important problems and projects kept it at the bottom of the list.
(after)
I knew it would be tedious to stain an oak banister, and we weren’t looking forward to the amount of time and work it would take. We even had some contractors come in a give us a few bids to see if it would be worth it to hire the job out. With the lowest bid coming in at $5k, we quickly dropped the project. That was simply too pricey for our budget.
About a year ago, I learned about a Gel Stain from General Finishes that we would be able to use without a lot of tedious prep work. I was so excited, because I knew that we might actually feel motivated to finally get this project off of our to do list. When I showed the stain to my husband, he was actually as excited as I was (and my husband isn’t always excited when I present him with new project ideas… :)!
*NOT ALL GEL STAINS ARE THE SAME! We had great success with this particular brand of gel stain, so use other brands at your own risk. Test on a small inconspicuous area first!
Staining Oak Banisters Dark still is a time consuming project because of all the balusters, but we were able to cut down A LOT of the tedious prep work. But I am so happy with how they turned out, that I would totally do it again if I had too. If you are looking to update your Oak Banisters, I will attempt to share with you a tutorial so that you can do it too.
(before)
How to Stain an Oak Banister Darker:
Materials needed:
old socks or rags
General Finishes JP Gel Stain in Java
General Finishes SH Gel Topcoat in Satin finish
white paint (semi-gloss finish)
Glidden’s Gripper Primer in white
Directions: Please read through all directions a few times before you start!
1. Lightly sand down all of your banister, including every surface you will be staining and/or painting with 220 grit sand paper. This doesn’t need to be perfect. You just need to barely rough up your surface so the stain and paint can adhere to it. It is best if you don’t wear down your original stain color, because you will be able to notice the color variations when you put on the new stain.
2. Tape off the surfaces you will NOT be staining. We did a two-tone look with some of the Banister painted and some stained. So we had to be extra careful in taping off the RIGHT areas to prevent stain from getting where we did not want it. Do your staining first and THEN your painting. (You will need to tape off again after you stain for the areas you will be painting).
If your stairs are carpeted like ours, you might even want to tape the actual carpet! You can see that we did this in the above photo.
We stained the following areas on our staircase:
- Newels
- Newel Caps
- Treads
We painted the following areas on our staircase white:
- Stringer (or Carriage)
- Risers
- Balusters
3. To stain the wood, simply dip your rag or old sock into General Finishes JP Gel Stain in Java color that has been stirred well (according to your particular brands instructions). Rub over your wood in small working areas lightly until your stain is even in color and thickness. You may not get the dark color the first or even second application, so don’t try to make it really dark in one coat. It took us two coats of stain to get the color we desired because our oak was a little bit darker to begin with. If you get too much stain on, simply wipe off the excess stain as quickly as possible and reapply. Complete this process until your first coat is finished.
*To get in small areas, we suggest using a small craft paint brush to apply stain in the hard to reach areas of your balusters and newels.
4. Let your stain dry for at least 24 hours (according to the directions for your particular brand of stain). Add your second coat of stain and let dry completely.
5. When the stain has set for a few days, you can tape off the areas you have just stained that are next to the areas you are now going to be painting. Take your time and tape the edges as carefully as you can. The more time and effort you put into this, will greatly effect the outcome of your finished banister!
6. Paint white gripper primer on the areas you will be painting. We LOVE using Glidden’s Gripper Primer in white. We have used it to paint all of our cabinets and the paint holds up SO well!
7. Now paint those same areas with your favorite indoor paint. We used our favorite white paint in a semi-gloss finish. Let your paint dry in between coats. Ours took 2 coats to cover completely.
8. If you have any areas that need some touch up, you can do so at this time.
9. To finish your banisters so that the stain and paint holds up well over the years, you will want to cover them with a varnish. We LOVE General Finishes SH Gel Topcoat in Satin finish. You simply wipe this varnish on like you did the stain…with a clean rag or sock. We used three coats and allowed it to dry between each coat.
10. Remove your painter’s tape and touch up any areas that may need it.
This project took a few weeks for us to complete…with a LOT of other family stuff going on in between staining and painting and drying times. We worked on it mostly at night when the kids were in bed.
I am in LOVE with the outcome. The finished stain color ties in so nicely with our dark wood flooring. Such a nice change from the oak color it was before! Now go and do yours!
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That is beautiful! A great job well done & a complete tutorial! Thank you for sharing!
Your banister looks lovely! Did you put the varnish on both the stained and painted parts? Excited to do mine. Thank you for the tutorial.
Yes, we did.
Do you have a post about that wall paper wall. It is nice.
I don’t have a post on it specifically. But here is a link to the wallpaper I used! http://www.designyourwall.com/store/Darcy-Pearl-Circular-Geometric-modern-wallcovering-GB57218d-pr-3175.html
Well worth your time and effort. Stunning results.
Thank you so much Bonnie!
Would you share what your paint color is on the walls up the stairs? Thanks
Yes! The paint in the entry way is Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. This paint is my very favorite gray!!
That looks amazing! I wonder if I could use that gel stain on our front door and shutters outside. Hmm….off to investigate that. :)
I hope it will work for you! Good luck!
What color white paint did you use? There are so many shades of white out there :P
I love your wood floor !! I would love to know the brand and color of it!! Thanks!
I just found this article and have the same question. We need to refinish our floors and railings both. Thanks for the info, Amy!
@AMY & @theidearoomassistant,
I love your wood flooring as well, it seems to match the handrail and newel post. What stain is used on your flooring? Thanks for the staircase inspiration, Darlene
I will have to find what color of wood floors we installed. It has been awhile since they were installed. It is really close in color to the handrail though.
Thanks for the tutorial. I’ll be ding this soon. LOVE the kid pics on the wall!
Annie, Thank you so much!
Love the finished product! I want to do this to my banister-How much stain did it take to do the 2 coats to the banister? I see the stain comes in 1/2 pint and 1 pint cans and don’t want to buy too much. Thanks!
I used a pint can but, not sure how much you will need for your banisters. I like to have extra in case I need to touch up later on down the road.
This is lovely. I am curious, on the wall side (no railing) did you just put up moulding diagonally. and then add the batten above, or is there a specially cut stair stepped piece before the diagonal moulding?
Hi Amy,
We redid our first floor with dark floors and off-white trim. Upstairs is all oak. We want to paint/stain the staircase just like yours, but then it won’t match the upstairs trim. Did you have this problem?
Hi Amy! Looks lovely! Can you actually tell me the paint color you used on the walls? Thanks!
Do you think this staining would work for oak kitchen cabinets and baseboards?
Holly, I would think so, but you may want to try a small section before you commit. Thanks.
Hi, I love your banister! I just want to verify that you used Java? The color of your project turned out so lovely and such as nice shade of brown. All of the other posts that I have seen who have used Java look so black. Thanks!
Yes! It was Java. I was nervous it would be so dark too. But we did have a very lighter yellow oak to begin with. Test it on a hidden area first if you are really unsure. Good Luck!
Beautiful job! Thank you for the tutorial. How did you avoid getting the stain on the carpet?
You can tape down plastic or craft paper to avoid spilling on the carpet.
When you painted the white are you able to see the oak drain through the paint or did the primer take care of that? Looks great!
Kristi- The primer seemed to take care of that. Great question.
Well done! I too had this job priced out and decided to attempt this project by myself. My question is – did you work up or work down?
Susie- We worked down the railing. I don’t think it would matter which direction that you go though. Good luck on your project. I would love to see pictures when you are done.
My stairs are all painted white and the balusters. How well the Java gel do on the handrails? Will the wood grain show through?Am I going to have to sand down to bare wood? Thanks for your tips! It looks great!
Not sure how well it would stick to white paint. I have only used it on stained wood. I think you may have to sand it down.
Can you give me more details on how you applied the topcoat? You said you applied it with a sock… Do you just rub it on in a very thin layer on the banister and all the balusters? Did you use a brush at all? Do you have to go back over with another cloth and wipe the excess off? Also, the Instructions on the can say to sand between each coat… Did you do that? I would be afraid of taking off my stain and paint.
Heather- Yes rub a thin layer on with sock. I only used a brush in areas that were too tight to reach with the sock. You don’t need to rub excess of with this stain. I did not sand in between coats. Hope this helps.
I am getting ready to do this same project, someone suggested a product called TSP. Have you ever used this, or heard if its better then sanding.
Thanks!
I try and stay away from harsh cleaners, but I have used TSP before. I did not use it on my banister. I just sanded it. If you are planning on using TSP, it must be handled carefully. I would wear rubber gloves and a mask, and in a well-ventilated area. I would give ample drying time before painting. It can be a replacement for sandpaper as well since TSP cleaner will remove paint.
Very professional looking job, beautifully done, thanks for sharing.
Thank you.
You make this sound doable! I’m getting a bid on totally replacing ours but if that proves cost-prohibitive (which it probably will), this might just be a summer project! Thanks!
Kristin- I hope you end up doing this. It was totally worth it!
I just started my own stairs today using your tutorial for inspiration. With one coat down, it seems to be getting darker as it dries. I can also see every scratch in the wood – I’m wondering if I wiped off too much? Will that all even out with more coats?
Julie- I found that mine did even out with more coats. I would love to see pictures of the finished banister!
I really appreciate hearing a positive review of gel stain!
Amy- Thank you. We loved the gel stain!
Im following this article and starting the project this weekend, I’ve already lightly sanded everything! I know you say use a semi gloss for the white paint bannisters but should it be latex based, Acrylic, water based?
I used latex based paint. Hope this helps. You will have to send me pictures of the finish project.