Prepping and painting stair treads
 

I have a spiral staircase that is currently stained and coated in poly. I'd like to paint them black. What do I need to do to prep them, and what's the best steps to properly paint them? I've included a picture of the steps.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/7...9ff62a0c31.jpg

IMO, I love the looks of the natural woodgrain finish.
However, if you want to paint them black, you will have to resign to having to repaint them as the paint wears off.
I would remove the steps, sand the finish off them, give them an oil based prime and the paint them with something durable like alkyd based paint.

I prefer stain in many applications, but I don't want to try and match the finish of the floor, and current stain doesn't match anything. Also, there is a different color stain used upstairs, which I just renovated, so the steps couldn't possibly match up and downstairs. I think a glossy black on the entire staircase would look nice.

One thing I should have mentioned is that whoever installed these originally used construction adhesive, so taking them off is not an option. This is another reason paint is more practical. Would putting a polyurethane coat on after the paint help? These steps are almost never used with shoes on because they go up to my bedroom and 2nd bathroom.

I have used poly over latex, works well. Random orbit sand the tops sponge sand the edges.

I painted them, and I'm happy with the results. I used a small foam roller and back-brushed. Used this paint:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8308/7...fda2400b_n.jpg

Finished look:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7...94aeeca7_c.jpg

Looks good:)