Abstract: Applying protective coatings to deck and stair rails is not a desirable undertaking. The painting of decks with standard brushes and foam filament brushes is a time consuming task. The spacing of balusters makes the use of spray equipment impractical. The polygonal cross-sections of the balusters do not lend themselves to the use of paint rollers or painting pads. The application of protective coatings to balusters, then, has generally been a tedious operation. Herein a family of coatings applicators is provided for deck and stair balusters. The applicators include elongated rods connected at one end to form tongs. The other ends carry base plates so configured that they contact baluster surfaces when the user forces these tong ends toward each other. Paint pads are attached to the base plates so that the baluster surfaces can be readily coated.