Yup I'll ask them to fix it. They'll do a much better job than I will. It was either blue painters tape or masking tape.

Blue painters or masking tape should not have done this damage. Your professionally painted staircase was either not properly prepped or the paint they used started to fail after 2 years. Looks like a complete redo is in the future if either is the case.

Having said that, I would pursue a solution with the workers that put the tape on there in the first place. That's your short term solution for a bigger issue that's brewing.

That's what I'm afraid of. I am assuming it was tape but it could have been tools, etc that scraped the staircase. I'll ask when they arrive on Monday.

Whatever you do, don't peel more of it because it started. There is a way to stop it and fix the area, without it continuing. Hopefully the professionals will do the right thing and help with this. If not, come here and we will walk you through it.

I'm definitely not tackling myself. The whole room is getting repainted after the kitchen is done and the fireplace is done. I have the color name (Dunn Edwards Swiss Coffee). No left over paint.

If I wasn't having remodel work done I would prob tackle myself. But why bother :)

Excellent that you know the name. Do you know the finish? Probably Semi-gloss or gloss. I would buy a small quart of it for the repair work.

Yup semi gloss :) I had asked the original painter a year ago because I scraped a small portion trying to install a baby gate

sweet!

Was the old finish actually stripped away, or merely scuff sanded and painted over? Adhesion is never as good to an old finish as it is to open grained wood.

Looks like not even that David. I can see perfectly intact wood grain in the larger peeled off part. Painters usually just want to do the minimal prep and one coat and be done. Otherwise it's very time consuming and expensive.

It was originally stained. I think they stripped it based on the raw wood showing in the small areas that it has scratched. But this section I took a pic of has space between the paint and the wood so leads me to believe it wasn't properly adhered there. Maybe because of the curve?

Steph do u mean it wasn't done properly? It took several days and wasn't cheap. I wasn't here at the time they did the stairs though

Maybe. If they didn't remove all the residue from the stripper, that could be the reason for it not adhering. Was a primer used and if so what?

Without primer, there is nothing for the paint to adhere to longterm.

Then again, any painted surface that is hit hard is going to chip. You said it was peeling, but it sounds like now the painters just hit the staircase during their work. That would chip the paint, even if it was painted properly.

If the staircase is scratched where you think it's peeling, then it probably just chipped where it was struck. Unless they used epoxy paint, any painted surface would incur damage after being struck.

I'm not sure. The top portion looks like it it peeling. It isn't adhered to the wood and there is a gap between paint and wood. The lower portion and the smaller scratches I have in other areas look like the paint is adhered but just scraped off like when I scraped it installing the baby gate.

The contractors now aren't painting. They tore down walls, demoed the kitchen, moved pipes, etc. So in that process something could have hit that area. Who knows!

Yep who knows. best to just find out if they are willing to help with patch and fixing the area for now. But it could just be wear in tear over the years of use. That's why it's helpful to have some DIY experience to do these small fixes between complete redos. Most painters will not come out for such a small job, unless to correct a problem they created.

So true! So what would be a DIY fix, especially the part that I say is peeling and not even adhered to wood? I do furniture but haven't dealt with peeling or scraped paint like this on a staircase before. Would love some tips!

I would use a bit of Peel Stop on the exposed areas up to a a couple of inches past it. Then one layer of Zinsser BIN shellac in the same area. Sand the area with the shellac until nothing flakes off. Fill the gap with joint compound like 3M prime and patch. Sand that area until it is level with the rest of the painted surface. Prime again with Zinsser BIN, then roll paint with 4" Velour roller.

If it wasn't peeling and you don't care about the pit it created, I would just cover the area with Zinsser BIN, then with matching paint.

Thank you!

Zinsser BIN Shellac is pretty much the answer to most issues. I've used it when I mudded my walls, after I sealed them, used it prep my old stained cabinets in my kitchen, and of course repainting all my trim and crown too. It smells terrible, but it's effective. I've tried other things, but I keep coming back to this product, because of its effectiveness.

Also, love BM Advance for wood work and trim. Aura for walls. I can easily patch an area and not see any difference.

I have Zinsser Bin in my garage already! Have used it for my furniture pieces :) love it

Then you pretty much have what you need already and the experence to make the fix yourself. You can use Zinsser BIN to stop the peel as well. It works the same as peel stop from what I can tell. Don't pick at it unless you think it doesn't go far. Sand the edges until it gets to a point of feathering and not peeling, one layer of Zinsser, then paint. Done. You will still see a bit of pitted area without joint compound though. I usually prime the over the joint compound after sanding the area because it usually doesn't take to paint the same as other areas.

So I just checked and mine is 123, not BIN.

123 is their regular primer. You need the Shellac BIN primer.