Staircase Re-do: From Carpet to Hardwoods

Our staircase makeover

Alright, it's crunch time as we make our way into the third trimester of my pregnancy.  This means we only have a few more months to get the house baby ready.  Not only does this push the baby-related projects to the top of the list, but knowing how busy we will be post-baby, it pushes all projects to the front of the list.

Last time I was pregnant, my husband and I took on a houseboat / floating home remodel which we had to finish before my son was born so we could put the house on the market.  We did complete the project in time, but unfortunately, it took another three years to actually sell the home.

This time, with a lot less pressure, we are able to calmly complete our projects in reasonable timeline.

The first project on my list?  Redo the stairs! 

The carpeted stairs - BEFORE

Every week, I groan as walk past the staircase with the vacuum and wonder, "Do you think I get away without vacuuming the stairs for another week?"  The answer is almost always inevitably "no" because they get caked with dust and dog hair almost as soon as finish vacuuming. 

Hmm...wonder where all the mud and dog hair is coming from...I couldn't even get my dog to move off the landing to take a picture!

Vacuuming the stairs is a complete pain, because the vacuum is heavy, doesn't fit on the stairs, and the cord doesn't reach from the nearest outlet on the top or bottom of the staircase. Not to mention, over the years, the carpet has stretched and appears to be caked with stains that can't be removed with a carpet cleaner for the same reason that vacuuming them makes for difficult work.

Not only are the stairs ugly and difficult to clean, but there is a larger-than-typical number of them (27 total) due to the downstairs having extra-high ceilings.  Good for resale value, but bad for moving furniture and cleaning stairs. 

The only solution was to rip them down.  After spending days on Pinterest seeing how others had tackled similar projects, we decided to rip off the carpet and see what was underneath.  We were hoping for level, solid pieces of stairway risers and flats that we could just paint and poly over.

What we found was scrap press-board of varying sizes and cuts, none of which reached totally from baseboard to baseboard (see the gaps from left to right?).  So right off the bat we knew everything would need to be covered or replaced with new wood.  That was budget breaker No. 1.

Exposing the carpentry underneath showed we had nothing to work with, and we would have cover or replace everything on the stairs.

Off to Home Depot we went in search of a solution.  The one caveat was that we had to match our existing hardwoods, as they make up the final two steps and landing of our staircase.

Our current setup includes two stairs and a landing to the left and right of the front entry, both covered in wood to match our current wood floors.  In order to for the stairway makeover to work, the new staircase would have to match the current wood floors.

Our first idea was to buy matching hardwood floors for the steps, and then use a cheaper wood on the risers and paint that in a durable cream enamel paint to match the floorboards.  We found an almost-identical wood on sale at the Home Depot, and figured we could do the stairs for $12/stair.  But then what would we do on the edge (the nose) of the stair?  Turns out, you can order the noses, but they cost--hold your breath--$30 each!!!  And the topper?  They weren't long enough for our 42" stairs, so each one would use 1-1/2 noses, turning each step from $12 a stair to $57 a stair.  That was budget breaker No. 2.  It also made me realize why the contractor opted to carpet, versus hardwood, the stairs.

Our second idea was to use a laminate wood floor (like Pergo), or even a faux wood glue-on vinyl laminate, but the wood laminate was also $30/nose, and the vinyl had no corner nose option at all.

We were at a complete loss, when my husband just said, "I will make wood steps to match, just buy me a router."  Truth be told, I was extremely skeptical.  My initial thoughts were, 1) he's not capable of bull-nosing 27 stairs; 2) This will be expensive because we will have to fix so many mistakes; 3) There's no way to make cheap wood look like our expensive wood floors; 4) He'll never be able to match the stain to our existing wood floors; 5) I think he just wants me to buy an expensive router.  But nevertheless, what other choice did we have? 

So we loaded the cart up with a $99 router, and 12' x 16" pieces of bulk, stock, cheap pine, which we had cut into 48" sections (I think they were about $12 per piece) for the steps.  Then we also bought two sheets of 3/4" plywood for the risers, which we cut into 6" x 48" pieces.

My husband spent the remainder of the day bull-nosing the 48" sections with his brand new router.

These are the newly-routered 48" steps made from cheap pine planks of wood.  We made three out of each 12' piece.  Each one was routered using a bull-nose router bit.

Once all the pieces were cut, it was time to apply the stain.  Still feeling skeptical and busy with other projects, I entrusted my husband to pick the stain.  I just said, "Take a piece of the hardwood and match it." 

Now my husband is a lot of things.  Talented, skilled in carpentry, and patient.  But he IS NOT good with color. And after hours of sanding and staining, he applied a blackish, dark brown stain to all the stairs.  It was awful.  He missed the mark on color, tone, and body of the stain.  So he want to the store again, and picked out two more colors, both of which were also incorrect.  By the fourth Home Depot trip, I decided to go with him.  It took me about one minute (I'm not bragging, but it's just a girl-thing) to find the right stain, and we headed for home where Josh flipped over the boards and started over. 

It actually turned out to be a blessing, because with the leftover dark stain, my husband was able to add some body and texture to the otherwise plain pine wood, making it look more like our wood floors.  He hand-painted wood grain in using multiple colors of the stain, then added a topcoat of the matching golden cherry color I picked out.

On the fourth try, we were able to find a color that matched our current wood floors.  you can see other failed attempts in the upper left-hand corner of this picture.

By mixing multiple stains, and hand-painting in some visual interest, the steps actually look amazing and maybe more beautiful than our hardwoods.  Can you believe this is pine wood that we paid about $4/stair for?

After staining the steps, my husband applied two coats of polyurethane to each one to preserve and protect them.  This also gave them a beautiful, shiny finish.  Be sure to let the poly dry for two days before assembling!

After staining, two coats of poly was added to help preserve and protect the floors.  Then they were left to dry for two days.

Then he painted the risers (made from cheap, cheap plywood) a satin enamel finish to match the baseboards, and applied two coats of polyurethane made for painted surfaces to each of these. 

The risers, made out of plywood cut into pieces, were painted with a satin enamel, and finished off with poly for painted surfaces. This will help create a finish that matches with the finish of the steps, and also protect the wood from toe scuffs.

Finally, it was time to put it all together.  This was the easy part.  The only problem came when we noticed the current steps already had a 1/2" bull-nose overhang.  So we cut that off each step, and made each riser long enough to accommodate the gap created from building atop the existing step and riser.

Then using a nail gun, my husband first put on the risers, then the steps. The whole process took less than a couple hours.

This is the easy part...just nail the boards and risers to the existing steps.

After all the pieces were nailed in place, all we had to do was caulk the areas where the steps butted up against the baseboard with an off-white colored caulking. 

Note: Be sure to avoid dog paws and high heel shoes on the stairs for a solid three days!

This is the finished project.  It looks amazing and matches the existing hardwoods almost exactly!  Take note, my husband was right, and I was wrong...

The new stairs match the existing hardwoods almost perfectly...they may be even a bit prettier!

The staircase - AFTER

I LOVE the wood stairs with the cream risers...I think it looks so interesting, and it was easier to do!

The view from the top.

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"Book-Casing the Joint"

Some women prefer diamonds for Christmas.  Some want a classic pair of black Louis Vuitton's or Chanel No. 5.  Me?  I'm a little more difficult.  I want built-ins.

The finished product!  LOVE these bookshelf built-ins in our Master!

Ask and I shall receive.  That's because my husband is not only handsome, sweet, and loves to work, but because he's quite the craftsman too.  One year for Christmas, he sheetrocked an entire room of our houseboat where the drive-in boat garage used to be.

This was my present one year...a new living room where a boat dock used to be.  Josh sheet-rocked, built-in the bookcases and fireplace, created the cut-out to the den, and did all the lighting.  I painted.

Last year, he masoned the stone fireplace in our living room. And yet another year, he surprised me by bringing home a discarded Wurlitzer piano and refinished it for me into this beautiful piece.

My husband found this discarded Wurlitzer piano at a former YMCA and refinished it for me on a very broke Christmas when we first got married.

But this year, he really outdid himself.  With a baby on the way, and a space that essentially had not been touched since we moved in exactly two years ago, our Master bedroom was in much need of an upgrade.  During Black Friday, I bought a 39" tv to go in our Master bedroom, but since we had no place to put it, the bookcase project got pushed forward, and over the last week, my husband slaved to finish this beautiful project for me.

So, here's the room before.  We had no place for a tv and no storage outside of our closet.  I wanted something I could store diapers and other baby essentials, and also something that hid wires, cables, and the tv box.

The left side of the room is much larger than the right side, so I had my husband build two bookshelves (one for the left and one for the right) that were exactly the same width as the smaller right side, then built a corner unit for the remainder of the left side area, so that the bookshelves would look symmetrical, but the left side would actually be larger.

The right side is where we needed the tv to be so we could see it from both spots on the bed.  Originally, I had planned for the book cases to go up the entire height of the room, but the tv was slightly larger than the wall width, so we decided to build the shelves only halfway up, and set the tv ontop of the bookshelves, instead of mounting the tv inside.

The bookshelves would be tricky on the left side because the pocket door means no beams and nothing to attach the built-ins to.

Once we had a plan that would accommodate the space and the tv, my husband got to work! And he worked, and worked, and worked.

Bookshelf for the right side, complete with area for the BluRay player, cable, box, and DVD storage.  I left the tops see-through so that the wall color would show through and add some dimension.  A little trick I learned from way back when.

The total cost for the wood and mouldings was about $170, plus a little extra for paint and handles.

The left side of the bookshelf has one unit identical in height and width to the right side, and then an added corner unit to accommodate the extra space, and yet not compete with the symmetry.  Bookshelf units do not need to have shelves and drawers in exactly the same places to be symmetrical and unified, they just need to be the same height, width, and finish.

I had my husband build in a pull-down shelf that could be used as a spot to work from my laptop, or can store diapers once the baby is born.  Versatility is key, and with handmade built-ins, I get to choose all the features.

Josh built in slots on the back to accommodate tv, cable, and electrical cords.  He also had to cut out areas to accommodate the electrical outlet.

A coat of paint mixed to match our moldings, and a good wiring job later, and we were ready for the install.  Josh pulled all the electrical through the back, and then covered the cords with stripping painted to match that you can find at any home improvement retailer store.

Drum roll, please!  Here is the finished product.  I think it looks just beautiful.  The cords are hidden, the paint matches, and there is plenty of versatility so I can decorate for any season--or reason!

The large tv still looks a little top-heavy, but whatcha gonna do?  It's a great size for the room and there's no moving it now because the cable box and BluRay (first shelf) are pretty much built in to the unit.  If you look closely, you can see the electrical line running down the middle.  Pretty cool, huh?

I love the way this looks with the pocket door.  We choose to match the paint to our moldings and doors, and let the wall color show through.  Though this detail is lost with such a light wall color, I still think it's a nice touch.

I LOVE the corner shelf because I love how you can take a minus, and turn it into a plus.  A asymmetrical wall is now the beauty of the entire piece!

Securing the left shelf to wall was particularly trick because there is pocket door that slides behind the left side.  Luckily, the corner unit allowed us to attach the entire built in to the corner wall.

Some black and white accessories from around the house, plus a couple of black and white photos really accent the shelves without getting too cluttered.  Still have some space to fill though, but I'm willing to wait for the right pieces.

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We must be crazy putting in a paver patio in the snow!

We will never admit when we've bitten off more than we can chew.  Note that I said admit.  That doesn't mean that we've never had to tear down one of our projects and re-do it when we figured out the correct way.  Or, the serious moment of buyer's remorse when we entered our newly purchased home and realized it was merely a set of stringers and logs on the water.

Yes, we've definitely taken on our share of challenges.  And what doesn't kill you, is likely to grow your property value.

This is the latest project: a paver patio and set of stairs for our sloped 1/4 acre desert backyard.  We were planning on hiring out the work using some of the cash from the sale of our houseboat.  But after a $4,000 bid for the stairs alone, we retreated and decided to do the work ourselves.  Ok, so my husband decided to do the work himself.

Here are the pictures from beginning to now:

The Stairs to the Patio.  I didn't know how we were going to tackle this.  It's just a hillside made of lava rock with no way down to the bottom.

Days later, this is the only progress made trying to "carve" steps out of the hillside.

It was about this time that I was screaming, "What the ---- have you done to our yard!"

Bring in the heavy machinery!  With an excavator that we rented, we were able to dig a pathway down too the bottom in a matter of hours.  Now for the steps...

Using some old railroad ties, concrete blocks, used all-thread from my husband's work, and make-shift scaffolding from two car jacks, my husband has managed to build two stairs in two days.

Each step requires drilling through the railroad tie, and sometimes the lava rock below, and holding into place with foot-long all-thread.

All the meanwhile, work on the paver patio begins.  We were worried that the snow would prevent us from excavating, but thanks to an expert friend, we plowed through the excavation and gravel laying in two days.

Day two of the excavation and the site was leveled, gravel was down and compacted.  We ended up having to make our patio two levels because the ground was too uneven and too much dirt would have to be excavated to make it a single level.  The step down was finished, and we were ready for pavers on Sunday.  Then it snowed until Thursday.

After the ground was compacted, my husband spray painted the dimensions of the patio out so we could get a visual.  It's actually much smaller than anticipated!  Yeah!  Less money!

A view of the patio and where the staircase will come down.

All compacted and ready to go--pre-snow.

My husband decided to add a ramp to one side of the patio stairs so we could move things easier, like lawn equipment.

Waiting for pavers...

Thursday (Day 7 since excavation).  Snow is finally melting enough to install pavers (on the right side of the picture).

Patio install begins.  This is the easy part!

Stay tuned for updates on how the project is going.  Hoping to have it close to done by the end of the month!  Given it ever stops snowing!

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