Refurbish spiral staircase treads?

[PiKe]

They have a veneered finish which is very thin, the cats and various wear and tear has scratched them and some water has permanently stained them.

What would be the best bet for making them look a bit better? Should I paint them with a stair/floor paint? I'm not really bothered about retaining the wood grain finish, just to make them look more presentable.

 

[Participant]

Ttiuwp

 

[BigBoy]

As above how damaged and stained are they? Tbh any paint you use will wear quickly that's why stain and varnish would have been used in the first place.

 

[PiKe]

Pictures as requested, as you can see they're a bit screwed, I think something containing oil was dropped on them.

The front edges are rough because I removed the grip tape.

I did try lightly sanding them but the staining seems quite deep and with how thin the veneer is, I wouldn't want to go much further.

The staircase is ugly anyway, I hate it and I don't like using it, just not sure if I would be able to fit a winder in.

I can't imagine it costing more than £2k to have something else fitted, or am I way off the mark?

The other alternative is I get a joiner to replicate the treads in actual wood and fit those in? Would only need to take the outer rail off because the treads are not sandwiched in the center support, but actually sit on platforms.

 

[BigBoy]

Sandpaper and time then a coat or three of a good polyurethane varnish and they will be good as new.

 

[PiKe]

Have you seen how thin the actual veneer is?

 

[BigBoy]

Have you seen how thin the actual veneer is?

Yes I have done th above many times as my parents had exactly the same spiral staircase up to a loft room. I took all the trends off and used some super fine sand paper and an orbital sander, washed them.all.doen then varnished with three coats, came up good as new.

 

[PiKe]

I've already tackled that tread with sandpaper but the staining is still there, all I can think is to stain them darker so it can't be seen.

 

[BigBoy]

Looks like a water mark you need to use finer paper and sand more. A light rub down isn't going to take anything away, basically sand until it's gone.

 

[PiKe]

How fine? Is 120 too coarse?

 

[BigBoy]

Start coarse and work it down, start with an 80 and go up to 240. Sanding is the be all and end all of prep, if you don't do it properly then there is no point doing it at all.