[masraum]

Originally Posted by look 171

the finish will never match. You can't except the putty to match the actual wood. It just not going to happen. Painting should be last, bacause that can be wipe off quickly assuming it is water based paint.

Jeff

Right, putty sucks, but what are you gonna do.

Originally Posted by turbo6bar

Just brainstorming here, but can you get under the stairs? Could you remove the drywall and fasten the treads from beneath? Fabricate brackets from angle iron, predrill, and fasten to the stringers. Then, cut treads to template, prefinish, fasten treads from beneath, and then refinish drywall. A decent drywall guy could rehang and finish drywall faster than you could finish the treads in place. Sucks to be the future guy who has to rip out the treads that are screwed down, though.

I just put a closet under the stairs, all new drywall. I hate drywall. Hahah. I could probably manage most of them, but the bottom 1 or 2 treads would be impossible to get at from underneath (no clearance). I'd thought of that. It would be nice if there was nothing through the top. Yes, I wouldn't want to be the guy to have to take them out later.