I need to paint the walls and ceiling in this staircase. The ceiling is flat, and does not slope down with the stairs. That means that the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs is very high.
The walls and ceiling will be a different colour, so I need to be able to use a paintbrush to "cut in" under the coving.
How do I safely paint this?
I am in the UK (in case anyone wants to recommend a tool hire company).
P.S. The test colours on the wall are not the colours I'm using.
There are three ways:
1) Lean a ladder against the lower wall, put boards connecting it with an upper stair, and put a ladder on top of that.
2) Use a baker scaffold. Baker scaffolds can be set up with varying height legs. Then put a ladder on the baker scaffold. This is my recommended solution.
3) Use a 2 wheel edging paint pad that will allow you to cut-in using a pole.
http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/f/FDDEDGPD/
If you are really careful, this might even look ok.
It may make some cringe, and it is not for the faint of heart, but I would use an extension ladder of the proper height, placed on the stairs so the angle is good for climbing, one of these for either end of the long run of the stair, and place a walk board, a 2X10 or 2X12 (in the US), that is the main work surface. Access to it would be by another item cobbled together a short step ladder and plank on the top level.
I have actually done this a few times and survived
Painting is easy; scaffold is for when you actually have to get up there and do something like plaster or wiring. Those tiny diameter paint rollers do wonders in the corners (slightly bend/angle the roller's handle). Also, so do brushes taped to a pole: (polesandmore.com, notice some of these are triple length)
I hate when people shill their products/services as answers to forum questions... But I'm going to do it anyway.
Take a look at the Ladder-Aide (www.ladder-aide.com). It lets you set up a regular extension ladder on stairs, so you can paint the walls:
We created it to address this need, which is why I feel OK posting it here. We read lots of painters' blogs and browsed lots of forums. There were a couple of really great DIY solutions that came up often (makeshift scaffolding with 2 ladders and a walkboard, and a custom-built ladder platform). But we figured there was a need for an easy, adjustable product. I hope it helps someone out there.
I have used many different ladders and equipment to work on the staircase, but one thing I must say, nothing works better than an adjustable ladder. Yeah, you can use a leveler but that too has its limitations and you cannot fully adjust ladder legs on stairs. I always felt some kind of instability while using a leveler.
Recently I used an adjustable ladder from Little Giant to paint and decorate my staircase and it went perfectly fine. I am satisfied with the adjustability and features of that ladder. There are many adjustable ladders available on market. Here is a great list of adjustable ladders I found doing a simple google search.
But do consider your height requirements for the ladder. Not all ladders are the same and You must know what you need before buying yourself a ladder.
