How to paint stair hallways – no boards required
Painting a hallway seems like a really big project to complete.
The reason for this is that hallways are basically the biggest room in your house. There are also multiple doors and door frames spindles and handrails.
Also the amount of walls and the height of painting the hallway walls in this area.
In large hallways there are many difficult areas that need to be painted. High ceilings, high stairway walls and staircase painting .
When I speak to customers this is one of the main reasons why they use my services. To paint these hard to reach areas and complete whole staircases.
Also you need to have a head for heights to paint the stairwell.
Traditional method of painting stair hallways
One of the most off putting things about painting stair hallways is the large stair wall that you need to paint.
You usually need more than just a pair of steps or a single ladder.
The traditional way of painting a stair hallway wall is to use a ladder at the longest length. A pair of steps on the shortest length and a scaffold board or plank going in between.
Forgive the rudimentary drawing, but this is a simple example of painting a hallway
This traditional method can seem dicey even at the best of times. It is hard to climb onto this traditional type of scaffolding and it can feel like you’re taking your life into your own hands.
I will show you a much safer way of staircase painting. Starting at the large stair hallway wall, with only a single ladder.
What is a combination ladder?
A combination ladder is basically a ladder that can fold into many combinations, hence the name. Parts can be folded down or folded into the ladder itself to provide longer and shorter extensions.
Combination ladders are usually sold at trade only type shops.
Some good DIY shops will sell these types of ladders, but you are better to either buy them online or from a trade shop.
I have two types of combination ladder. I have the 3 tread type and 4 tread type. The 4 tread type are quite tall and I rarely use these unless the standard height in a room is 10 foot or higher.
The 3 tread type are used every day and are ideal for staircase painting and painting a hallway.
Using a combination ladder correctly in the steps below. I will show you how to paint the highest wall in your house with only this ladder.
Method for painting stair hallways.
I personally find the method below is a much safer process and you need less boards and ladders.
It is also a quicker method and you can continue you to use the combination ladder on the rest of the decorating project.
The reason for this is that by using multiple boards and Ladders it can feel quite risky and less secure when you are using it.
You will need the following tools:
- Combination ladder
- Paint brush
- Kettle (paint can for holding paint)
- Scuttle or roller tray (scuttle is basically a large square bucket)
- Extension Pole
- Roller for painting wall.
Step 1
The 1st step is to extend your ladder fully into a traditional ladder. The bottom will rest on the stairs and the top against your head wall (the wall you see walking down the stairs).
You need your paintbrush and kettle for cutting into the ceiling and corners of the wall. Cutting in as far as you can reach without overreaching.
The 2nd step is to fold down the top part of the ladder so it forms a 90-degree angle. You need to move the base of the ladder further up the stairs.
Make sure the angle of the ladder part you climb up isn’t too steep. Moving it up the stairs will allow this.
This pushes you away from the headwall in order to cut in, along the ceiling line. You can now climb up and cut in the ceiling line, making sure you do not overreach.
The 3rd step is to fold the ladder down to a short A frame. one side is kept long the other is shortened down see image below. Make sure you have the rubber feet on the stairs.
You will now need to stand on the top of this A frame. This now allows you to carry on cutting in the ceiling line.
Once all your cutting in is done, you can proceed to carry on painting the hallway walls with the roller and scuttle. Use the extension pole I mentioned earlier with your roller and scuttle to reach those high areas.
If you struggle with this or don’t have the head for heights and live in the London area, you can contact me through the website
Very helpful
I’m to sraced to do my stair wall how much is it just for that wall as I fell off a ladder and want to finish it before Christmas
Thank you for the advice Jason-was plain and simple! Still not sure I’m brave enough to tackle it though…I may have to supervise the other half and send him up 😂
That’s it. Get the old man to do it 😂
Hi Jason,
Great tip, which combination ladder do you use ?
Model and where to buy or any top recommendations ?
Cheers
Hi Asim, the model in the photos is a
Youngmans. The ladder is 25 years old or so and still going strong. It’s a 3 tread type. You can get 4 tread types, these are sometimes too big.
Youngmans are usually sold at professional decorating shops back in the day. Obviously you should be able to get them online these days. I think I got mine from Brewers, the decorating shop.
Every now and again use WD40 in the joints to keep them from seizing up and don’t leave the ladder outside as I’ve seen the joints seize up with rust if you do.
Best of luck.
Nice one pal, that’s the trickiest part of my job made simple. I didn’t fancy falling off that plank and fussing my hair. Catastrophic brain trauma is over rated too.
Simple S
👍
Great advice but being a 5ft lady I don’t feel confident in tackling my stairway, think I will have to get the professionals in! May I ask what is the average price for hall stairs and landing for a standard house?
Hi Carolyn, it depends in quite a few factors. Size and current condition of the hallway. Designer paints can be twice the cost of good trade paints. Whether the walls need wallpaper removed and whether it’s going to be re-papered or just painted. If you’re in London drop me a message via the contact option on the website.
Absolutely brilliant advice….have just completed crazy high stairwell in my daughters house and we totally bossed it with your advice!
Hi Hannah, that’s made my day. Great to see my advice is paying off. Combination ladders are a great piece of kit to have for all work around the house
great tips – thanks
👍
My stairs/landing are different to yours shown here, in that the landing goes along side as yours, but then turns above the head wall. So the head wall is just a few feet. So I think steps 1 and 3 you’ve shown would work but step 2 wouldn’t. This would leave the top of the middle part of the wall above the stairs inaccessible. Is it possible (and safe) to reach this area with a combination ladder configured as step 2 but starting from the landing so going perpendicular to and reaching across the stairs? But even with this set up the upright steps would be too far from the wall – can you actually lean weight on the horizontal stretch?
Hi Denis, firstly don’t do anything if you are unsure of the safety aspect of it. Don’t overreach or take any risks. It’s difficult to advise if I can’t see it. I would look to get further advice elsewhere like a hire company who could hire you access equipment to do it safely. The article here is just for that type of hallway only. It sounds like you have a bigger hallway, and therefore need more access equipment to do it safely. There is a large platform you can buy for stairs called a Hailo 9940-001 TP1 work platform. Just Google it and should come up. This will allow you to have the ladder across the staircase in a safe manner.
Hello
Thanks for this article, its really helpful
Is this the correct sort of ladder for the job please?
https://www.nationaltoolhireshops.co.uk/product/combination-ladder-hire/
thanks in advance
Hi Victoria, this type without the extension would be better.
Combination ladder
I am just painting our hall and landings. we have 3 floors so a humongous number of fittings and doors.
1st to 2nd floor is a dog leg with winders through 180 degrees so placing ladders is flippin awkward.
I have a modular ladder and have run it alongside a 3 section but will look at cranking the top over to get a platform for the roller tray! Otherwise it a heavy board over the top landing handrail to the rungs of one of them…
Hi Rob, get yourself one of these. It’s called a Hailo platform and each leg is independently adjustable from the other. Therefore these will work on stair winders to give you a stable platform. https://www.laddersandaccess.co.uk/product/hailo-9940-001-tp1/?fo_c=2217&fo_k=c2693b95e05d783bb8e29458532e482c&fo_s=gplauk&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA8sauBhB3EiwAruTRJrWXKozlVGbIU_APNxg9h12_n77Z_rFomQuuz6ocQgMDKpZfRmFRexoCvzkQAvD_BwE