• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Work with Me

Make it with Kate

  • Home
  • DIY Woodworking
    • Building Projects
      • DIY Mudroom Build
      • DIY Corner Coffee Bar Build: Wine Storage, Floating Shelves, Cabinets and more!
      • Staircase Makeover: Carpet to Wood Stairs
      • Fall One Room Challenge 2021: Game Room Makeover
  • DIY Home Decor
    • Furniture Flips
    • Dollar Tree Crafts
    • Small Wooden DIYs
      • 3 DIY Farmhouse Trays to Make
    • Wall Decor
  • Fall One Room Challenge
  • Seasonal
  • Holiday
  • Instagram

Painting and Staining Pine Stair Treads

February 9, 2023Uncategorized

Staining pine stair treads can be tricky, this paint + stain combo will show you how you can make pine stairs beautiful on a budget.

The second step of this staircase makeover is staining pine stair treads. If you’ve successfully removed the carpet from your staircase and uncovered a pine staircase, you might feel discouraged as pine can be hard to work with when staining. This tutorial will give you an easy way to get the wood stain look you want even on a pine stair tread.

Read First: How to Remove Carpet from Stairs

Staining pine stair treads can be tricky, this paint + stain combo will show you how you can make pine stairs beautiful on a budget.

How to Prep a Pine Staircase for Staining

The first step to staining a pine staircase is prep. This is such an important one though quite annoying.

Do this by filling in any cracks or dents or staple holes with wood filler. Be sure to buy one that is paintable and stainable as you don’t want to wood filler to show through your work when finished.

Once all of the holes have been filled, get to work with the sander. Sanding this pine down is going to be essential to getting a nice, smooth finish on your stair treads.

When sanding, begin with a coarse grit sandpaper like 60 or 80 grit. Then, work up to 120 grit, and finally to 180 or 220 grit. This will take some time to go through the three levels of sanding but after each time you will see how nice and smooth the pine is. This will help with an even application of your paint and stain, and will also make the treads nice to walk on.

makeitwithkate

Sometimes, you just have to go for it. 🔨 🪚🪛
The number one question I got asked about this pro
Before >>>> After! Are you team carpet or team woo Before >>>> After! Are you team carpet or team wood?? This staircase makeover took a few days but it was quite the budget friendly makeover and I’m happy with the outcome! #diyhomedecor #diyprojects #staircasedesign #staircasemakeover
So tell me…are you team carpet or wood stairs?? So tell me…are you team carpet or wood stairs?? #staircasedesign #staircaserenovation #woodstairs
Adding this runner to the staircase really gave it Adding this runner to the staircase really gave it a nice finishing touch. See how I tackled the right turn in the staircase by cutting and joining the two runners. Find this runner linked in my @liketoknow.it
Here’s what the middle of this #staircasemakeove Here’s what the middle of this #staircasemakeover looks like! The treads are stained and we are making some DIY risers to give it a clean look. Lastly, they need trim and some final touches and they’ll be done! #staircasedesign #diyhomedecor #diyprojects
I really wanted to try to stain these pine treads I really wanted to try to stain these pine treads before just painting them black but my stain just wasn’t coming out right. I tried an idea and ran with it and I’m loving the look of this paint/gel stain combo! This is a progress reel…so let’s see if this plan sticks! Stay tuned :) #staircasedesign #gelstainstairs
I’ve been wanting to rip this carpet up for a wh I’ve been wanting to rip this carpet up for a while now….today is the day I decided I can’t wait any longer. I have more involved plans for this staircase so for now I’ll be doing a budget-friendly update here! Stay tuned to see how it turns out 🙃 #staircasedesign #diyhomedecor #diyprojects #staircaserenovation
I love the look of garland on a mirror, I think it I love the look of garland on a mirror, I think it adds a nice touch to my holiday decor! These @command hooks and clips are perfect for making this a nice easy project that packs a punch! #holidaydecor #christmasdecor #diyhomedecor
I thought I would try something new on my front po I thought I would try something new on my front porch this year because there are just too many holidays to decorate for in a row here. I got this prelit garland from #zulily to use as a base for my porch decor for these next few holidays. I kinda like how it turned out! Plus, I can light it up at night :) #ad #frontporchdecor #falloween #holidaydecor
The board and batten entryway is done! Well…stil The board and batten entryway is done! Well…still the last 5% to do but that’s how my projects go ;) What do you think about the color?? It’s Pashmina by @benjaminmoore #diyhomedecor #boardandbatten #diyblogger
This board and batten entryway is almost done! Che This board and batten entryway is almost done! Check out some tips and tool for paint prep, and painting! #boardandbatten #moderntraditional #modernfarmhouse
Load More… Follow on Instagram

What you need for staining pine stair treads:

I add an extra step which is painting my staircase prior to adding the stain. This isn’t a necessary step but it’s how I completed my staircase so I’ll walk you through that process and explain why.

Paint the Pine Staircase Before Staining

  • orbital sander or sandpaper blocks (80, 120 and 180)
  • wood filler
  • Benjamin Moore paint in ‘Brown Tar’
  • Varathane Gel Stain in ‘Dark Walnut’
  • Stain brush
  • Rag
  • Paintbrush
  • face mask
  • fan
  • gloves

Pine is a soft and porous wood that pulls very orange when stained. Before going with the paint and stain method, I tried a pre-stain wood conditioner with the gel stain over the top.

Even after two coats with this method, the wood still pulled very orange and didn’t have the exact walnut color that I was attempting to create.

Gel stain on pine stair tread even after treated with pre-stain wood conditioner

In order to get rid of the orange undertone, I first painted all of the treads in ‘brown tar’ by Benjamin Moore. Did you know you can use gel stain over paint like this? Only gel stain which is oil based will work over the paint, a water-based stain won’t have the same outcome.

Sampling different brown paints under the gel stain. ‘Brown Tar’ is in the middle.

Staining Pine Stair Treads

Once the pine stair treads are painted they are ready for gel stain.

*Gel stain has very strong fumes and is not good to breathe in. Use a face mask and properly ventilate the space, in addition to using fans.

Apply the gel stain across the stair tread in an even motion with the wood grain, creating lines with the brush. This will help mimic the look of the wood grain over the paint.

Let the stain sit for 5-10 minutes, then wipe with a rag in the direction of the brush strokes.

Gel stain takes quite a while to dry, let the tread dry completely overnight until it is no longer tacky, then decide if you want to do another coat or not. I only used one coat of gel stain as I was happy with the outcome of the color.

TIP: if doing this method on a staircase that you are currently using, do every other tread on the first day, this way you can still walk on the other unfinished treads. Once dry, do the remaining treads so that you can walk only on the dried treads. With three kids in my house this method worked well and I used blue painters tape on the wall next to the wet treads so they knew where to walk on which days.

Once all of the stairs have dried the treads are done! If you need to touch up any spots, do so with a small paintbrush and the same method as above.

Staining pine stair treads can be tricky, this paint + stain combo will show you how you can make pine stairs beautiful on a budget.

Next, your staircase makeover is ready for DIY risers!

Related Posts:

How to Remove Carpet from a Staircase

Related Posts:

  • DIY Stair Risers on a Budget
    DIY Stair Risers on a Budget
  • DIY Stair Runner with Corner Turn
    DIY Stair Runner with Corner Turn
Previous Post: « DIY Coffee Bar Ideas for Home Kitchens
Next Post: DIY Stair Risers on a Budget »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. How to remove carpet from stairs - Make it with Kate says:
    February 9, 2023 at 3:48 pm

    […] Painting and Staining Pine Stair Treads […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search for what you need

Welcome!

Find inspiration for DIY home projects and crafts on a budget! You can usually find me with either a hot glue gun or a can of spray paint in hand 🙂

Get social:

  • Instagram

Recent Posts

  • DIY Stair Runner with Corner Turn
  • DIY Stair Risers on a Budget
  • Painting and Staining Pine Stair Treads
  • DIY Coffee Bar Ideas for Home Kitchens
  • How to remove carpet from stairs

makeitwithkate

Sometimes, you just have to go for it. 🔨 🪚🪛
The number one question I got asked about this pro The number one question I got asked about this project was where this runner was from so I thought it deserved it’s own post: ✔️RUNNER DETAILS
.
.

❇️ it’s from Amazon…and it’s washable 🤯 you can find the link in my bio > shop my pictures OR by checking out my ‘stair runner’ highlight for the direct link
❇️ I bought two 2x12 runners and then cut the ends at a 45° angle and joined the seams with carpet joining tape for the turn (step by step in ‘stair runner’ highlight)
❇️ I have a rug pad cut into strips and attached with carpet tape to each tread under the runner, and the runner is attached with a staple gun- all of these also linked in my @liketoknow.it which can be found in my bio under shop my pictures
.
.
.
Any other questions I can answer??
Before >>>> After! Are you team carpet or team woo Before >>>> After! Are you team carpet or team wood?? This staircase makeover took a few days but it was quite the budget friendly makeover and I’m happy with the outcome! #diyhomedecor #diyprojects #staircasedesign #staircasemakeover
So tell me…are you team carpet or wood stairs?? So tell me…are you team carpet or wood stairs?? #staircasedesign #staircaserenovation #woodstairs
Adding this runner to the staircase really gave it Adding this runner to the staircase really gave it a nice finishing touch. See how I tackled the right turn in the staircase by cutting and joining the two runners. Find this runner linked in my @liketoknow.it
Here’s what the middle of this #staircasemakeove Here’s what the middle of this #staircasemakeover looks like! The treads are stained and we are making some DIY risers to give it a clean look. Lastly, they need trim and some final touches and they’ll be done! #staircasedesign #diyhomedecor #diyprojects
I really wanted to try to stain these pine treads I really wanted to try to stain these pine treads before just painting them black but my stain just wasn’t coming out right. I tried an idea and ran with it and I’m loving the look of this paint/gel stain combo! This is a progress reel…so let’s see if this plan sticks! Stay tuned :) #staircasedesign #gelstainstairs
I’ve been wanting to rip this carpet up for a wh I’ve been wanting to rip this carpet up for a while now….today is the day I decided I can’t wait any longer. I have more involved plans for this staircase so for now I’ll be doing a budget-friendly update here! Stay tuned to see how it turns out 🙃 #staircasedesign #diyhomedecor #diyprojects #staircaserenovation
I love the look of garland on a mirror, I think it I love the look of garland on a mirror, I think it adds a nice touch to my holiday decor! These @command hooks and clips are perfect for making this a nice easy project that packs a punch! #holidaydecor #christmasdecor #diyhomedecor
I thought I would try something new on my front po I thought I would try something new on my front porch this year because there are just too many holidays to decorate for in a row here. I got this prelit garland from #zulily to use as a base for my porch decor for these next few holidays. I kinda like how it turned out! Plus, I can light it up at night :) #ad #frontporchdecor #falloween #holidaydecor
The board and batten entryway is done! Well…stil The board and batten entryway is done! Well…still the last 5% to do but that’s how my projects go ;) What do you think about the color?? It’s Pashmina by @benjaminmoore #diyhomedecor #boardandbatten #diyblogger
This board and batten entryway is almost done! Che This board and batten entryway is almost done! Check out some tips and tool for paint prep, and painting! #boardandbatten #moderntraditional #modernfarmhouse
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Copyright © 2023 · Make it with Kate · Hearten Made ⟡