Painting the stairs-shoe marks & when to remove tape???

13 years ago

I know there's a paint forum but I want to ask here too.

I finally got to the "fun part" of painting the stair railings and treads. The prep, primer, and risers (painted white) are done.

I did the first coat of the brown (SW porch and floor paint) last night. I was going to do the 2nd coat tonight but when I went to walk down I left sneaker prints on the top two treads. Eek. Soo..... what do I do? I could try socks. I was going to try waiting until tomorrow to do the 2nd coat. The house temp. is set at 74 deg.

Either way, my stairs are royally taped up in two different types of frog tape. After the 2nd coat when do I take it off? I didn't think you were to wait until it dried completely. This is my first time trying the frog tape and I'm hoping it works like it's suppose to.

I'm hoping the 2nd coat of paint covers the shoe prints. It didn't dent the paint but you can see smudges.

The can says,

Recoat: 4 hours. I waited 24.

Light foot traffic: 24 hours

Tables, chairs, and heavy foot traffic: 7 days.

I was planning on waiting at least a month until we walked on it once all finished.

This project is taking forever and I just want to show the pictures. :)

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Comments (6)

greenthumbfish
13 years ago
If it were me, I'd wait until it dried completely, then remove the tape carefully using an exacto knife to make sure it removes properly.

Oh, and 39 lashes with a wet noodle - pics on this forum are not nearly as important as getting it done properly, no matter how long it takes!
User
Original Author
13 years ago
Exacto knife, good call! Why didn't I think of that?

"Pics on this forum are not nearly as important as getting it done properly, no matter how long it takes!"

I know, I know. It's very hard, but I've been working on this since last Friday and I'm taking my time and doing the best work I possibly can. If I don't, it will bug me later.

I honestly didn't think it would leave the shoe marks or I wouldn't of stepped on it tonight. Wonder when I can do coat #2.
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I would remove it when the paint is dry to the touch. If you wait a day or two, the paint will harden and the tape will be difficult to remove and it may pull off some of the paint from the surface you just painted. You may have to tape several times, especially if you are using an alkyd primer. I wouldn't leave the tape on for the entire painting process. Remove after priming and then tape again when you put the finish coats of water-based paint. Somewhere on the painter forums it was suggested that you press down the edge of the tape firmly by going over it several times. I used a softer plastic putty knife to do this. It worked beautifully for me and I got nice, clean edges despite the fact that I smeared paint all over the tape edges. As soon as I had finished cutting in the second coat of wall paint I removed the tape and this seemed to work best. With regard to painting around carpet, it helps to use those edgers that look like old venetian blind slats (unless you have some old venetian blinds you could use).
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Pulling tape half hour after painting is ideal, but it's not a big deal if you can't pull it until later either. You probably want to score the tape with a razor knife before pulling so that there is a clean break and you don't rip off any paint. You should read the can of paint which will say when you can recoat, though most acrylic paints are around 4 hours in good drying conditions. Yes, the paint can take up to a month to cure.
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greenthumbfish
13 years ago
RE: knife method - sssshhhh, don't tell the paint forum, but I do this all the time. I think taking tape off when it's wet is a mess!

I'm a big believer in letting paint cure. I know it's a PITA, but let it go as long as you can stand it. I try to let a week go by at the very least. I finished painting my kitchen (finally!) early last week - had to get it done - having a party on the 5th and wanted it to have plenty of time to cure.
4boys2
13 years ago
I've never tried this but heard that you can also use a blow drier along tape before removing...

I remove my tape asap..

But mostly I don't use tape...I love when I get a straight line LOL
Kathleen McGuire
13 years ago
Shee, are you sure that isn't dust/dirt from the bottom of your shoe leaving the imprint? I would assume it would leave a footprint rather easily on a dark stair tread. Try dusting/wiping it off.
User
Original Author
13 years ago
Paintguy on the paint forum told me to score the painters tape too so I'll be doing that after everything cures.

I'll have to check tonight and see if it's dirt. I knew the dark treads would show dust but and I thought a little bit about shoe prints but ... oh my, I hope I'm not regretting this later. Although, we really don't wear shoes in the house so it shouldn't be too huge of a problem. I can always add a runner later if I hate the footprint thing.

Lots of other people in the word have dark stair treads so what do they do? Clean all the time? :)

Painting the stairs-shoe marks & when to remove tape???

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greenthumbfish

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Painting the stairs-shoe marks & when to remove tape???

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greenthumbfish

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