Railing – Painted White or Dark Gloss Black

The two color options I see most often in rail selection are the natural wood color or stained oak. In the first case a polyurethane coat is applied to the parts to allow the original color to show through. In the second case, the desired stain color is applied and poly over it.

But what if you want to paint your railing white or are looking for that dark black glossy finish?

When customers want to paint their railing white, parts are usually milled from poplar. Poplar has a very smooth grain, which means you won’t see the lines through the paint. It is also less expensive than most stain-grade woods, which is preferable since the look of the original wood is going to be covered up with paint. We also have access to many paint-grade railing parts that already have a primer coat on them, making final painting much easier.

Occasionally customers are looking to have a railing with a deep, glossy black finish. Poplar does not stain well (paint covers wood, which is great for poplar, whereas stain is soaked into the wood grain, which does not work well with paint-grade poplar) so we usually recommend maple. The benefits of maple are a smooth grain and consistent light coloring. When a dark color is applied the finish result will be a gorgeous final product!

Happy building!

Kirk