How do you paint a staircase with a house full of people?

[PaperBlinds]

Our staircase is in desperate need of painting, but we have no downstairs bathroom and there is never a point when enough people are out/away for me to get it done. We have a small house and its a main thoroughfare.

I did start and every single person managed to walk on the wet/drying paint.

I also started the half-technique painting one side of a step.

Arguably my family are daft, but I need to get this job done. How do people manage it short of working through the night?

Can you pack them off elsewhere for a weekend and crack on? Or take a day off work to get the emulsion done when everyone else is at work/school?

How many people and what ages are we talking?
I think you need to announce a day it's being done and get everyone out nice and early.
Then don't let them back in until the evening when it should be dry enough if you've got the right paint that will dry quickly. And if you work fast enough.
Lock the door behind them if you have to!
It's only the treads that need to be done and dried in this time, the bits that actually get stepped on. The sides can be done one side at a time on different days but your family sound bloody useless tbh.

Not very helpful at the minute . But we did ours in Summer (June) . During the day when everyone else is at work /school. One coat done in the morning with all doors and windows open was dry by afternoon and a 2nd coat the next day.

Did you strip your staircase back? I need to do this too, but we have some big chips out of the existing paint 😬

Same here ! Staircase needs stripping first. Really tricky with everyone here.

There's no way around it really.

You'll need to find a way to do it when everyone is out (or asleep) long enough that the paint has time to dry.

Or give up and embrace fully carpeted stairs.

Don't people paint every other side and then do the rest when that's dry?

Hard to explain, but the left side of one step, the right side of the one above and so on...

Get a quick dry paint and do it very late at night after everyone is up in bed, then leave it to dry overnight. Besides chucking everyone out for the day that's the only way i can think to do it

This!

Or carpet it....

Paint every other step. Big strides, requires no Muppets in the house though!

Quick drying paint is good suggestion and will have to take time off work and start early I guess.

I have tried the alternative step/side method- resulted in total confusion and some falling over (me included). Will have to use it for myself though as advice is to paint going down rather than going up and i may need the loo!

Not sure how age of family members affects things, but no babies or toddlers. Yes we are prob all muppets, thanks for that!

I refuse to carpet fully and needs painting before we put a runner down - unless I really bodge it and just paint the exposed bits.....

Paint it last thing when you have packed everyone off to bed.

If you're putting a runner down then yes just paint the edges and leave the centre of each step unpainted. Don't make life harder than it needs to be.

If you know you're putting a runner down, then just draw (or mask with tape) some lines which are well within where the carpet will be, and only paint outside of those lines. People can then walk up/down the middle of the stairs. Should be fairly straightforward! And definitely no need to paint the bit under the carpet - that's a waste of time and effort.

Little Greene intelligent wood paint. It’s touch dry within about 30 mins and dry dry in 2-3 hours. So just paint it in the morning, and anyone not at school or work go out somewhere like a cafe for toilet and lunch. And it will be dry by the time your back

its honestly amazing. Just used their paint to paint under stairs toilet tiles. Primed one morning, main coat next morning. Dry by the time I collected Ds from nursery at lunch

Last time I did this I painted every other step and stuck a post it note on the steps that were dry so people knew which they could use. It does require a certain level of competence from the people you live with though and may not work with toddlers or people with short legs...

Water-based paints dry quickly, particularly if the heating’s on and you can run a dehumidifier.
You could get a couple of coats on while people are at school/work if you crack on.

No one paints under the runner. That’s not a bodge. It would be a massive waste of paint and effort. Just make sure the paint overlaps the runner section a bit.

This.

You tell them all that upstairs is out of bounds all day and if they have left something in a bedroom that's tough. Then police tape top and bottom

This!!

They do paint under on Instagram! I am so relieved. Thank you for permission to just paint the edges! I think we can manage a level of competency where we can step between the lines

The earlier Muppet point was referring to my family, not intended to insult anyone else's!

I painted the whole stair to seal in some smells. Previous owner was incontinent. May be a consideration for others.

A quick drying trade paint after they've gone to bed. And do absolutely all of the prep before hand.