Stairways at Las Margaritas before PDC Condo Management
When we took over at Las Margaritas in March one of the things that we noticed first about the building was that the stairways had not been finished, at least not to the satisfaction of the owners or potential renters. The construction company had left them as unfinished cement, as shown in the pictures. The walls around the stairs were scuffed up and chipping due to a few years of neglect. We decided to do something about it, so we looked into the best solution for high traffic areas.
Another before pcture of the stairs at Las Margaritas
I have painted stairways in different buildings before, they always have the same problem, high traffic. One of the solutions I have found is using a high-density oil-based paint, which works great and lasts a really long time, but unfortunately takes about 24 hours to dry correctly, which makes it hard to put down on a residential area. I have done it before on an apartment building I managed years ago, but the trick there was paint only half of the stairway at a time. This leaves a visible seam down the middle of the stairway, you have to mark everything very well so that nobody steps on your wet paint, and you always get somebody who in spite of all the yellow hazard tape and cones that you put out walks tramples through your paint and then gets it on everything. This was not going to work for Margaritas.
Stairway landing painted with Mapla TenisMapla medium beige
We had suggestions of tile, which would be great and would really take care of the problem, but the building did not want to spend that kind of money and a tiling project like that would make a huge mess.
Stairway painted with Mapla TenisMapla medium beige
I went to the paint store to ask what they suggested and they gave me a solution: tennis court paint. I had no idea that this would work, really I hadn’t ever thought of it before. Tennis court paint is applied in three coats. The first coat is a mixture of portland cement and water-based sealer, the second and third coats are of the actual colored paint which has a sand mixed in with it to give it texture. The coats each take about five to eight hours to dry and are supposed to last for three to five years. We solved the traffic problem by painting at midnight a few nights in a row.
We also painted the walls and ceilings of the stairways to go along with the new steps, so in all they look pretty sharp.