How to Refinish Worn Out Stair Treads | Ask This Old House

Ask This Old House carpenter Nathan Gilbert demonstrates how to refinish stair treads. SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse Time: 8-10 hours Cost: $100 Skill Level: Moderate Tools: Palm sander [https://amzn.to/2UtMMiP] Hand sander [https://amzn.to/2SB8wXN] Scraper [https://amzn.to/2GZowx5] Vacuum [https://amzn.to/2OyKH1h] Paintbrush [https://amzn.to/397oVcS] Shopping List: 80 grit sandpaper [https://amzn.to/3bh2aFn] 120 grit sandpaper [https://amzn.to/31xZMpq] Polyurethane [https://amzn.to/39efGYm] Steps: 1. Start by sanding down the treads to bare wood with the 80 grit sandpaper. This will require a combination of power sanding and hand sanding to get in the tight corners and around balusters. Nathan suggests using a scraper in the corners if the old finish won’t come off. 2. Vacuum off any dust from sanding between passes. Wipe down the treads with a tack cloth to ensure all the dust was removed. 3. Do a second pass of sanding using 120 grit sandpaper. 4. Vacuum and tack cloth the treads again. 5. Apply a coat of polyurethane to the treads using a paintbrush. If desired, a stain can also be applied to the tread before the polyurethane. 6. Allow the polyurethane to dry for a few hours. Lightly sand the tread and get rid of all the dust. 7. Repeat this process two more times. Do not sand after the third coat of polyurethane. Resources: To refinish stair treads, the old finish will need to be completely sanded off. To do this, Nathan used a variety of tools, including a Rotex 150 multi-mode sander [https://amzn.to/2ureWAp] for the majority of the tread (www.festoolusa.com), a scraper for the corner of the stairs, and a Sanding Mouse Hook and Loop Sanding Block [https://amzn.to/2S3AZpV] for around the balusters and the nosing of the tread. The sanding block can be found online.   To remove the dust, Nathan used a HEPA Dust Extractor [https://amzn.to/2vOmVrA] with a brush attachment by Festool (www.festoolusa.com) and a tack cloth [https://amzn.to/2Smvqlr], which can be found at home centers. To apply a new finish, Nathan used a regular paintbrush and a water based polyurethane [https://amzn.to/2ufEbpx] by Rust-Oleum (https://www.rustoleum.com/). About Ask This Old House TV: From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. Ask This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home. Looking for more step by step guidance on how to complete projects around the house? Join This Old House Insider to stream over 1,000 episodes commercial-free. https://bit.ly/2GPiYbH   Plus, download our FREE app for full-episode streaming to your connected TV, phone or tablet: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/pages/streaming-app Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest Instagram: http://bit.ly/AskTOHIG For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite   How to Refinish Worn Out Stair Treads | Ask This Old House https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/