Sanding/painting floor and stairs

[12nicola]

I hope it's OK to post, I am a bit of a lurker on here!
I have ripped up the carpet on our landing and stairs and want to use floor paint. I assumed I would need to hire a sander first, but a friend says that because it is a small area I could get away with sanding it by hand if I am painting. Is he right? I'm thinking no, but I am a complete novice!

Thanks

I am not an expert too, but I am thinking you only need a small orbital hand sand machine. Big snading machine even the edging one would not reach the corners. Also, I might try to do hand-sand as your friend says, because steps are such a small area.

Thanks, think I might try doing it by hand. The worst that can happen is that I end up doing it twice! (Remind me I said that!)

Yes for stairs you would probably need a small hand sander anyway, a big one would be hard to use there and not reach a lot of the step!
If you have a radiator on the landing, be veeery careful of the pipes (we learnt this one the hard way!).

Thanks, will bear that in mind!

Def use an electric sander, you can hire them. Prep is the most important thing, esp on hevy wear area like stairs. Are you putting a runner up the stairs too?