Staircase Finial Refinishing in Deerfield, IL, From Peeling to Like-New

Staircase finial refinishing in Deerfield, IL, brought a worn banister back to life without replacing any parts. The newel post finials had lost most of their original finish. Paint was chipping, bare wood was showing through, and the whole staircase suffered for it. Roman stripped the old coat, sanded everything down, primed twice, and finished with two coats of fresh paint.

Before and after split-image of a restored staircase finial ball. The left side is chipped and worn, while the right side shows a smooth, restored finish.

App-Based Home Care for Busy Homeowners

FixHome+ is a subscription-based handyman service with its own home maintenance app. The first of its kind in the Northwest Chicago suburbs. Homeowners add tasks, upload photos, and check the progress before work is completed. All from their phone. Every new property gets a free 45-minute introductory visit to take stock of what needs attention and minor fixes.

The Problem: Chipped Paint on the Newel Finials

Handyman sanding a worn wooden finial, surrounded by blue tape on a workbench.

A handyman uses sandpaper and a vacuum on a wooden bannister covered with protective tape and plastic.

The staircase itself was in decent shape. The banister, the balusters, the starting newel - all fine. But the decorative wood finials at the top of the stair posts had seen better days. The paint had cracked and peeled back to bare wood in several spots, which made an otherwise clean staircase look neglected. Leaving it like that tends to make things worse. Exposed wood on stair parts in a high-traffic area picks up dirt and oils fast, which work into the grain and raise the surface over time. The deeper that goes, the more prep work is needed before any primer will actually bond, so the refinishing job gets bigger the longer it sits.

The Repair: Strip, Sand, Prime, Repeat

A handyman is focused on painting a wooden knob gray using a brush.

A hand carefully sands a freshly painted gray finial wrapped in protective blue and clear plastic.

Roman started by removing the old flaking paint down to the wood surface. Then came sanding, working the finial smooth with sandpaper, paying attention to the curved shape of the ball top. Once the surface was clean and even, he masked off the surrounding area with plastic sheeting and blue tape to keep everything else clean. For more on painting prep, see our guide.

Handyman painting a decorative wooden finial with a brush, appearing focused.

A handyman is painting a wooden ball finial black with a brush

First came a coat of gray primer, brushed on carefully and left to dry. Once dry, he sanded it lightly again, rough primer surface means the finish coat never sits quite flat, and it shows in the final result. A second primer coat followed. After that, two coats of dark gray paint, the same tone as the rest of the newel post, applied with a brush for full control around the curves.

The Result: Smooth Finish, Clean Staircase

A black stair railing with a round top is in focus. The stairs have a black and white spotted carpet.

The finials came out solid and even. Any brush marks, any thin spots. The dark finish matches the newel post and banister exactly, so the staircase reads as one consistent piece again. Up close, the ball top looks like it just came from the manufacturer. It is a small detail, but refinishing a finial ball or other stair parts like this tends to change how the whole entryway feels.

Conclusion

If your newel post, finials, or other stair parts are showing wear anywhere in Deerfield or the broader North Shore and Lake County area, FixHome+ handles exactly this kind of work. Download the app, add the task, and we'll take it from there.