Types of paint | Paint to use when painting your stairs
There are many different types of paint on the market. One type is especially suitable for outdoor woodwork while other kinds of paint are more suitable for indoor painting. Paint generally consists of four components: binder, pigments, fillers and dilution. Especially the binder used is of great interest in painting. The binder determines the adhesion, wear resistance, hardness, gloss and color retention of a paint.The quality of paint is vital. Cheaper paint might cover less square metres and wears quicker. In the end it might turn out that your choice for a (initially) cheaper paint turns out to be the most expensive one. In other words: a more expensive paint might cover more square meters and just lasts longer.
A staircase is - similar to e.g. a wooden floor - a high-traffic area. Choosing the right kind of paint generally provides a better result and grants the stairs a longer life. The label on the bus is usually specifies for which application (s) the paint is best suited. You can also ask your local paint shop for additional information.
Below an overview of some paint types and terms:
| Alkyd paint: | Traditional solvent-rich paint |
| Acrylic paint: | Water dilutable paint - Contains water as solvent |
| Hybrid paint: | Mixture of acrylic resin and alkyd resin as a binder divided into water |
| Primer: | Ensures proper adhesion of the coating. |
Natural Paints: | Paint made from natural ingredients. Linseed oil or natural resin act as a binder, the solvent is water or from natural products. |
A one-component floor coating only consists of the base coat. Because of the increased risk of wear on your stairs using a 2-component floor coating is recommended. Two-component floor coating consists of the base coat and a hardener. An alternative to the 2-component acrylic floor coating is buying to buckets of paint. One coating for the colour and a separate hardener.