Painted stair risers - MDF or Hardboard?

[KevM]

Context:
I'm in the middle of laying a new floor, floating engineered wood type, throughout my hallway, stairs and landing. I don't want the solid expanse of wood up the stairs and will paint the risers white to match the existing rails, banister, skirting. I already have to hand a sheet of 3mm hardboard and a sheet of MDF (not MR) so for good or ill my material choice is one or t'other. The risers will simply act as a decorative veneer to hide the chewed up plywood risers in the original staircase so strength isn't an issue.

Questions:
1. Which will give the best finish - MDF or hardboard?
2. What painting approach would you recommend for either?

Cheers.

 

[Mike.S]

Based on the hardboard I took off all my panel doors (1960s 'improvement') you can get a ggod finish using gloss paint. IMO, both will give a good finish. To save time/effort I'd seriously consider a skim coat of filler (e.g. Upol) on the existing ply.

The risers are literally going to take a kicking, so I'd err towards oil based paints and/or a lacquer/varnish top coat (for toughness and wipeability). My current favourite primer/sealer is Zinsser Coverstain. Whether to paint before or after fixing depends on fixing method or personal preference (including likely traffic on the stairs during drying time!).

 

[blackrodd]

If it's any use, Wickes do 4'x2' painted panels @ about a fiver also painted bath panels are available.
My FIL used these on a project and the finish was good and quite tough.
It would save a lot of cutting in etc, just a thought.
Regards Rodders

 

[mseries]

With work you'll get the same finish on both materials. I would say hardboard will require less work since. I recently painted the edges of my stairs which has treads and risers of MDF. The stairs have a runner fitted. I primed them, undercoated them, two coats of coloured paint and two coats of clear varnish. Finish is good by not great - this is due to the workmanship and paint rather than the substrate.

 

[KevM]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

I'm using stair nosing like those in the picture below. The existing treads overhang the riser by ~18mm, so I'm packing out the existing riser to the level of the edge of the existing tread with some chipboard to make a flush right angle (hope that makes sense) and I'll be bonding the new flooring on with flooring adhesive. The packing out, then facing with MDF/hardboard, seemed like a much easier option than trimming the existing treads flush.

My plan is to cut all the panels, prep and paint and then bond in place - so hopefully no issues with cutting in for paintwork etc. I'll probably try a tester from each material and see where I end up - I'm erring towards the hardboard, partly because it's less useful to me for other purposes than the MDF.

One last question - I'm considering running a few screws, pocket-screw style, through a couple of treads to sort out some squeaks before I cover it all up - any thoughts?
Cheers, K.

 

[mseries]

I don't have an answer to you squeeky question I am afraid. I am interested in your project though since I thought long and hard about stair covering and considered your solution. I didnt't want to remove the stair noses either and packing out the risers will be a suitable alternative. In the end we decided against hard covering on the stairs, partly due to the effort involved (not sure I'd be able to cut every treat spot on to avoid gaps), partly due to the expense of the components to do this with laminated flooring, partly due to the noise of walking on hard wooden stairs and due to the fact that I didn't want to seal everything in permanently with glue in case something happens in the future and it has to be ripped up.

If you get a chance please take some WIP pictures and post them up,