Which kind of sander should I use to refinish my hardwood stairs?

Question

Help please!!!

I want to refinish my stairs. I got hardwood floors troughout the whole house. We refinished them a while ago, but left the stairs behind because the big sander we rented couldn't do the job. Now I want to finally do the stairs. Should I buy a belt, circular or any other kind of sander? And what should I use to paint the steps?

Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

use a random orbital sander. you can buy them at home depot. Porter Cable makes a pretty decent one for about fifty bucks.  Use no heavier than 120 grit to take off the old finish. then hit it again with 150 or 180.  whatever you end up starting with, 120 or 150, you should sand it at least one more time, and I would suggest finishing with at least a 180 grit, maybe even 200.  otherwise the random orbital will leave small swirls in the wood. but the finer grit should take out the swirls. the rest you will have to do by hand, or get a mouse sander also, which can reach into corners a little better. however, you're gonna have to use your hand at some point.  stripping the old finish may work, but you are still going to have to sand some, and honestly sometimes stripping the old finish with chemicals is more work than just sanding it, and sanding the wood will not damage it at all. It was sanded the day they installed it!

Answer 2

Bosch, Skil and Black and Decker (probably even more!) all make detail/finish sanders.

The link below is to Lowe's for a Black & Decker.  You can always google for more!

Hope that helps :)

Answer 3

You probably would benefit from hand sanding rather than using an electric sander.  Would not use a belt sander no matter what the grit on the paper.  Too hard to control the edges and you get grooves, and you cannot reach the corners.

I would use a varnish and stain remover, scrape off the old stuff, use a wire brush with the grain from the corners, then hand sand using a sponge type block.

Best, if you can remove the stairs themselves.  This is sometimes possible since they are attached to the vertical risers.  That allows you to work with the entire horizontal board surface.  Just keep track of which one came from where.  If you are going to do the risers, they sometimes also are attached to the stair support unit, usually with screws, and can be detached.

Barring removal, elbow grease is perhaps the best.

I would never paint hardwood stairs.  I would restain and coat with a tough polyurethane (clear).  You get a prettier unit, and you can always do a stair runner up the middle if you want grip and to avoid wear and tear on the wood.