Painting Wood Stairs

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Q:  I recently had new stairs put in my house.  The treads are made of maple which we are had stained cherry to match our cabinets.  After the stain was applied the wood became discolored, looking like dirt or soot blotches scattered across the tread.  We re-sanded and tried using wood conditioner first, but got the same results. Do you have any suggestions? 

A:  The blotches and dirt spots, revealed when the stain dried on the maple wood, were most likely caused by water spotting and are difficult to notice on the unfinished wood.  But once they are revealed, it is almost impossible to correct this problem without removal of the finish and reconditioning of the maple wood.  For a quick fix, you can consider painting the wood with a full covering application of a suitable paint product.

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