Staining Pine Wood Stairs

To stain pine wood you ll need to seal it before brushing on the stain to prevent the wood from soaking up more pigment in some areas than others.

Staining pine wood stairs.

Seal pine before wood staining. Pressure treated wood contains preservatives to prevent rot and insect damage but it remains vulnerable to the sun wind moisture and dirt. It s possible to stain pine stair treads but it takes more prep work to get good results with pine than it does with harder woods. Next use a higher grit sandpaper to smooth the surface then scrub the wood with a soft sponge to.

It is a simple diy tutorial and i use a scrap piece of pine wood to test the stain color that i will be us. The whole idea behind stain is that you can color wood but not cover up the grain like paint does. Some softwoods like pine and some hardwoods such as cherry turn blotchy when stained. Typically pine is the cheapest lumber you can buy and its light color can make it seem like a blank canvas.

Wear gloves when handling pressure treated wood. To get the wood ready for staining you need to hand sand each tread thoroughly. In this video i show you how to stain pine wood. Staining pine make this inexpensive wood look like a million bucks.

Antique pine often has a dark mellow color. Follow the directions on the can of wood stain and make sure that you cover the entire surface of each stair by moving in long strokes and going with the grain as you apply. Wood stains are probably most commonly used on pine boards and plywood. In this case consider applying a pre stain wood conditioner which seeps into the wood fibers to seal the material and prevent the uneven absorption that causes blotching.

Dark stains on pine can look horrible. In order to prep your wood sand it with a low grit sandpaper to remove any inconsistencies. The main problem is that pine tends to soak up stain unevenly resulting in a blotchy unnatural appearance. Unfortunately when woodworkers try to duplicate that color on new pine by using stain the results are usually disappointing.

The photo below shows the dramatic difference between the raw and sealed areas of pine using the same stain color. Brush a coat of wood stain onto each tread. Get a wood stain from a home improvement store and brush it onto the stair treads with a bristle brush.