For reasons of our dog being a bit mental sometimes and chewing the stair carpet (usually while we're out - this time she narrowly avoided getting a blocked intestine due to ingested carpet), myself & Mrs "Numpty" have decided to remove the carpet and go with something different.
The rest of the house has a mix of bare floors / tiles / laminate so to match up we're thinking of sanding the stairs down, and either staining or putting a good hardwearing paint on possibly with some sort of stair tread mats to avoid slipping.
Problem is that the boards on the "turn" on the stairs and on the landing are a bit shabby to day the least - there are some big-ish gaps between some of them, and others have been a bit hacked up by the previous owners during a plumbing job (some less than accurate work with a circular saw for example).
I've got 2 options
1) caulk / plastic wood fill and sand down the gaps, sand the entire thing, then put a really hard wearing gloss paint down on it. Or
2) fill all the gaps then use one of the paint and grain kits....
So - anyone done either of these options on stairs / high footfall areas?
How hardwearing are the paint & grain kits (assuming I'd have to put a good couple of varnish coats on after)? Or is the gloss a better option (or will it get chipped to hell?)
The rest of the house has a mix of bare floors / tiles / laminate so to match up we're thinking of sanding the stairs down, and either staining or putting a good hardwearing paint on possibly with some sort of stair tread mats to avoid slipping.
Problem is that the boards on the "turn" on the stairs and on the landing are a bit shabby to day the least - there are some big-ish gaps between some of them, and others have been a bit hacked up by the previous owners during a plumbing job (some less than accurate work with a circular saw for example).
I've got 2 options
1) caulk / plastic wood fill and sand down the gaps, sand the entire thing, then put a really hard wearing gloss paint down on it. Or
2) fill all the gaps then use one of the paint and grain kits....
So - anyone done either of these options on stairs / high footfall areas?
How hardwearing are the paint & grain kits (assuming I'd have to put a good couple of varnish coats on after)? Or is the gloss a better option (or will it get chipped to hell?)
