I'm guessing you've walked on those stairs since you painted them? It seems odd they'd still be tacky even now.

I think you might need to wait to poly them...repaint another coat (or two) in the summer, when there is more consistent warm temps and the humidity is a bit dryer (unless you live in the midwest!!) Then do your poly-ing. Frankly, I think it's the paint. I wouldn't do the finish until you had a decent paint job.

After two months, that paint shouldn't still be tacky. Was the first coat totally dry when you put on the second coat? Did you use a primer?

I agree, adding poly isn't going to work, because the layers underneath need to be stable first, and it sounds like they're not.

I'd ask on the paint forum if they have any advice, but if it were me, I'd sand off anything that's tacky and start over. Or distress the whole thing to make it look like it was intentional.

Pesky, I think it's the paint too.

Franksmom, The can says you can recoat in 4 hours. I was going to wait 24 but ended up waiting almost three days. It was still tacky but at that point I wasn't going to strip them (Tried to strip an old vanity once and didn't complete the project.) and figured it would eventually dry.

It's drier now than it was the other month when I posted on here about them still being tacky. I think they'll eventually dry completely but that doesn't fix the marks. They don't sound tacky/sticky when you walk on them with shoes.

I followed Paintguy's advice from the paint forum on this project. I used Zinsser's BIN shellac primer because the stairs are pine. Did all the proper cleaning and sanding,etc.

I did ask on the paint forum about the paint being tacky and they said they'd contact SW because it sounds like a problem with the paint. When I talked to a guy in the store, he just said I'd have to repaint the scuffed treads and had nothing to say about them not being dry.

Paintguy recommended Muralo paint for this and Paintergirl recommended BM floor paint. Wish I would've listening to one of their ideas and just bought the stupid paint sample and matched.

I emailed SW last night so I'm curious to see what they say. Sounds like I'd need to strip everything (not going to happen) in order to fix it.

Shee - I am sorry that you are having this issue! I painted my stairs this summer too and know this is a long and tedious project. To have issues with paint performance at the end of all of your hard work must be so frustrating.

I would echo what Franksmom says that I would be tempted to sand, scrape whatever it takes to get the bulk of the SW paint off, sand again, reprime, and repaint in either Muralo or BM floor paint.

For what it is worth, I used BM floor paint (mixed with Shark grip since my boys tear down our stairs at warp speed) and have not had any issues. I painted every other step at one time so I could do the whole set over a few weeks, they are our only access to the upstairs.

Hang in there and good luck - :-)

I'd be curious where you bought the paint? It might be a storage problem with the place you purchased the paint at.
Paint is not meant to sit in cans in rooms where the temps swing from very high to very low. It affects the product.

I'd wait and go back when the temps are more stable then give the stairs a light sanding followed by a new coat of paint and then if you wish seal it, tho if it's floor and porch paint it should not need to be sealed.

I'd just like to add, about the drying temperature of the paint (77), that's an 'ideal' they estimate things at, but they're not saying (or at least I'd doubt it very much) that you MUST only have 77 F around when doing the job. It's a guideline.

I was thinking this morning how I haven't heard back from SW. This is the response I just got.

"Thanks for taking the time to contact Sherwin-Williams.

I'm sorry to hear that your results were not satisfactory. Reasons for paint drying slow are over-application, contamination on the surface, moisture, low temperatures and/or incompatibility. Please visit your local Sherwin-Williams store to speak with the Manager to see how they can help with the cost of the paint that you purchased from them.

Please let me know if you have any other questions."

I don't know what I expect him to do but that feels very generic and doesn't make me feel any better. I was looking at the stairs last night and KNOW I'm going to be redoing the treads this Spring (with something else). I don't believe this was my fault. Ok yes, I should've probably waited for the 1st coat of paint to dry completely but I'd STILL be waiting. Guess it would just be less I'd have to sand off. Bad part is, I don't remember WHICH SW store I was at when I bought the paint. There's a few I frequent. The receipt is long gone. I guess I could just pick one. ?

I'd also like to mention we have a pellet stove in the basement, with the bottom door open, and it kicks heat up like crazy. It's made no difference.

A little update.

I haven't felt like dealing with this so I put it off some more. Finally called today and turns out it was a bad paint batch. They found out a few weeks ago after several other people had complaints too. Nice, huh. They're willing to refund my money or guide me to something else. I asked him what he would suggest I do now. He said sand the tacky areas (felt like saying, "um..you mean the entire thing since ALL the paint is funky") and use some other type of paint they have (forget the name). I'll be using the same color.

SO if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this I'm all ears. Going to post this on the paint forum and see what they say. I was going to tackle this in the Spring but I think I'm going to shortly after the new year since we have the pellet stove cranking in the basement with the door open right now.

At this point, I feel like switching to BM floor paint but maybe that's not a good thing either. *sigh* I took my time on this project and this really sucks. On a positive note, the guy was nice and I'm happy to hear it wasn't my application.

Seems like they might have some liability to help pay for the labor to redo this. Have you suggested that you want some $$ to reimburse you for having to hire it redone; you did it once, but aren't willing to do it twice? I'd sure say I want to put in a claim with their insurance company. You just might get help to redo it all, if you want.

Hmmm...I didn't mention at all about all the hours and hard work I put into this. I wouldn't actually file a claim and never even realized people probably say or do that. I just told my story to someone else and they asked,"Well that's great but what about the labor?". That $14 doesn't really fix much. I would be really urked if I redid this the 2nd time and it didn't come out right.

Gosh, I'm glad this wasn't a huge staircase!

It just doesn't seem fair that a huge company produces a bad batch of product and has to do nothing toward the consequences to their customers of that error (part of the cost of doing business is the fallout/cost of fixing those mistakes). I'd feel differently if they were a small neighborhood shop and someone goofed and I had to redo something, but to a big company like this, paying for your repairs would be like a drop in the ocean and would be sensible customer service. They are not even going to notice that you are "eating" the cost and labor of redoing this job.