Project Spotlight: Restoring a Historic staircase

This intricate historic staircase is part of the oldest farmhouse in North Andover.

The story is that it was built for a retired Surgeon general of the United States in the late 1700s.

The new caretakers of the home as they refer to themselves (hey actually own the home) have been restoring the home to its original charm of over 200 years ago..

When we approached the staircase to restore we had a few factors to consider:

1. Due to the age we knew the paint currently on the railings were lead paint.
2. All though he family had a second staircase this was the most used in the home as they have kids and one large dog who wants to be everyone’s friend.
3. The homeowner wanted all the old coatings removed before applying the new coating which meant this would take additional time.
4. Finish coatings were discussed and an oil finish was chosen which meant longer dry times.

Prep, Prep, Prep

Due to the home being occupied and this project with a scheduled length of 2 weeks we had to minimize the disruption in the families everyday routine.

• Plastic off all the walls and protect the floor.
• To begin removing previous coatings we used a liquid stripper to minimize dust and contain lead dust from the paint.
• Festool hepa extractors (vacuum systems) and state of the art sanders were used to sand off the remaining paint remnants and residue.
• All surfaces were neutralized prior to spraying an oil based primer coat

The Finish:

• Two coats of Fine Paints of Europe high gloss white  applied on all ballusts and risers
• Two coats of Fine Paints of Europe high gloss tricorn black on all hand rails