We ripped up the carpet and pulled up the existing pine boards. are you DIY handy or would you hire this out? I say we just have to replace the risers and glue and…. Later, I removed the carpet from two upstairs bedrooms, the hallway, and the stairs. The easiest “test” is to see if your stair has a “rolled” edge. Step 1: Remove Carpet. Cost to Refinish Stairs. Easy to follow video instruction tutorial. It is hard to find in stores now, but you can still get one here: Sandblaster Pro Detail Sanding Tool You can also use any detail sander with a pointed tip Ryobi makes one. These were the base from which he began the project. I figured out that I need to put some molding on the front of them to help hide gaps on either side of the stairs, so I found this flat piece that fit on there perfectly to make the stair treads look better AND hide the gaps on the sides. Is there a textured finish I can apply to cut down on being too slippery? How to Install a Carpet Runner on Stairs. This is about 1 1/2″ wide. The stairs in our home were ancient and had a smell to them. How to Sand Wood Steps Between Staircase Balusters To sand in-between the balusters I used a little 3M manual sander called Sandblaster Pro Detail Sanding Tool. A friend of ours has also suggested that as the plywood is not a solid wood in nature, each stair might develop uneven wear spots in the main traffic area. How to Refinish a Wood Banister Your feet, wallet and downstairs neighbors may be nodding, Carpeting, runner or bare wood? Pros: Carpeting is a popular way to refinish stairs. So for anyone wanting to paint their stairs – especially stairs with particle board treads, let’s recap how to do this the smart way. I say stick withe hardwoods and commit to get a runner as soon as possible. Pull up all the carpet pad…. He basically cut off any overhang of our old treads (they were MDF and were covered in carpet). A friend of ours has also suggested that as the plywood is not a solid wood in nature, each stair might develop uneven wear spots in the main traffic area. How do I do this? If you just slap boards on top it will change the height of the steps at the top and bottom - which may violate code requirements for rise height. Blogger Diane ripped out old carpet and refreshed her hardwood stairs with a little paint and wood stain for less than $25. Yup, you heard right. I was disappointed. Jan 18, 2013 - Painted pickets & stairs: how to make that cheap plywood under your carpet look perfect and polished and finished. Repairing a Banister. I still went over them lightly with 220 grit paper just to smooth out any roughness but for the most part they were in really good shape. Also, I would like to take the paint off the handrails and finish them as well. Change your carpeted stairs to wood DIY! NuStair is the DIY staircase remodeling system that anyone can do! I'd like to recarpet or put a runner on the stairs and replace the pickets with iron or metal. You should be able to tell which it is by looking carefully at the edge of the carpet. After that we used Kilz primer to coat each tread, which in effect sealed the mud and prepped it for painting. Maybe we could refinish the stairs. You love the way it looks and feels! If your stairs look like the corners are more square…the wood is most likely plywood. The previuos owner had removed some of the hardwood floor and replaced it with plywood. Mar 7, 2020 - I went an unconventional and controversial route when picking out the stain for this post about how to refinish stairs that were carpeted. What do you think? Laid down and shined up, plywood can run with the big flooring boys at an affordable price, Trendproof your interior with this sensible guide to using this utilitarian material indoors, Learn costs and other important details about renewing a hardwood floor — and the one mistake you should avoid, Is it time to kick the hard stuff? Staining Stairs Process The most important part of how to refinish stairs that were carpeted is as always cleaning the stairs thoroughly before applying any product. Whether you are looking for step-by-step instructions on how to refinish carpeted stairs, how to remodel stairs on a budget, or how to retread basement stairs yourself, you have come to the right place! Keep moving the screwdriver until the tack strip comes up. Home Decor Style. How to Renovate Carpeted Stairs to Hardwood, a budget stair remodel. I have a new (and as yet unfinished) hardwood spiral stairs constructed of American White Ash and want to apply a durable finish that can be used on the whole stairs – treads, balusters and handrail. Use a chemical stripper and a lot of elbow grease on the handrail. Any suggestions? YOur runner should be able to be lifted a put down again. Wow, did this weekend fly by! A step-by-step DIY tutorial on how to remodel stairs from carpet to wood, give your staircase a makeover by refinishing them. But underneath the existing carpet is plywood. Bullnose carpet stair covers are removable and are designed for traditional hardwood stairs. In great shape. But as a designer it is always my first choice to go hardwoods over carpet. Step 5: Cut Riser Pieces. those look easier than what i'm dealing with. 1. Step 2: Remove Staples, Nails or Tack Strips. It was bad… We decided to rip out the old carpet and see what we had to work with underneath. 3. I used outdoor deck stain on my stair treads and I'm talking about the reasoning behind it in this blog post. When we moved into our farmhouse 3 years ago our whole upstairs was covered in old & mismatched wall to wall carpet. Any suggestions? Red Oak wood, stain is golden brown - sides of stairs are white very similar to yours. thank you so much for sharing. I wanted to see what type of condition the wood was in so I proceeded. If the wood tread goes all the way under the carpet, then yes. Remove carpet and pad using pliers and the claw on the back of the hammer. My husband says we have to put plywood under the 1 ½ inch oak treads we purchased. 4. Best cost effective way to update staircase for contemporary look. BTW, Plywood is still the go to for sub flooring and roofs in most custom homes being built today. ...to carpet or not to carpet the hardwood staircase? To give you an idea of what is involved in fixing your stairs I have posted this YouTube video that is very good and similar to your staircase. Painted stairs don't have to be bold. Can you please advise me on: refinishing 14 /24 in. We were disappointed to discover that under most of the carpet was either plywood or hardwood floors in terrible shape. One good thing about the stair treads were that they were nice and thick. A runner can add a splash of color to any room and make stairs more comfortable to walk on. That way they will look much different than just plywood. What can I do to fix this? The hardest part of this process was the fact that we just replaced the stair carpeting a few years ago so I had to paint around it. For the face of the stairs we cut 1/4 inch smooth plywood (I think it was birch) and cut each piece to fit exactly. Currently we have carpeted stairs with open risers from our lower level to upper level. This, however, would leave scuff marks on the riser from shoes, etc. First, prep the stairs by removing the carpet with a utility knife and a pry bar. For this reason, it is much more expensive to refinish stairs than a floor, when you base it on cost per square foot. These two-toned white and brown stairs from In My Own Style are proof that painted stairs work in any home. The hardwood on the stairs and in one bedroom is in good condition. There truly were Oak Hardwood treads under that dreaded carpet. The front section is pre-curled and easily snaps over the stair nose. Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors: We have a townhouse with plywood construction. Check out these ideas for matching your staircase floor treatment to upstairs and downstairs flooring, Carpeting adds a layer of warmth and softness to a space. Painting Your Stairs: Prep Work. I just don't like the look of the plywood that has been covered with carpet all these years. Wood is nice, but wood can be slippery, so if that a concern, especially if you have smaller children, you can use a runner, with stair runner rods, they go nice with most home styles and you can remove the runner down the line. When you have completed this “fun” task, make sure … My husband and I got to enjoy a nice dinner and evening alone for our anniversary (thanks mom and dad for keeping the kids overnight), we took the kids swimming, 4-wheeling in the woods and I busted my butt removing carpet and refinishing the basement stairs. ? Also, I like this blog for the how-to for changing to iron balusters: If you're pulling out the balusters, you could sand the plywood, glue and brad nail some bullnose trim around the edge, and paint the plywood either white or dark brown. Sand entire staircase. You will have to sand the wood, remove the nails, fill to the nail holes, then sand again. If I had known that, I would have pulled that carpet up a year ago. House built in 1983. When all the carpet was ripped off of the stairs and all of the staples were taken out, … Instructions. Imrava - it was stained a reddish color and I sanded it down enough to get the gloss off then painted it with 2 coats of Behr Stealth Jet (Home Depot). Well, the stairs have been there since 1973. Carpet. He used MDF for each riser and then solid red oak for each tread. Original / moved link https://faceliftfloors.com/q-and-a/plywoodstairs.php. According to The Spruce website, the average cost of stair refinishing will run you $40 – $75 per stair, on average. I made sure before I put the flooring down that all the squeaks in the rough lumber were gone. Q: I pulled up my carpet on the steps in my split foyer, and I found what looks like plywood. This product solves that problem. To take up all the carpet tack strips, just place a flat head screw driver under the strip—tap in with the hammer and gently pry it up. We have used a water based lacquer elsewhere on some white oak flooring but…, Loose or Creaking Boards & Tight or Popping Boards, recommendation to hire an experienced pro. Sand the surface of the wood putty until it is smooth and flush with the surface of the plywood stair … Since the carpet is so stiff, it keeps wanting to uncurl. 2. Using the most sophisticated carpet removal tools (vise-grips) and machines( my foot ), I pried the rest of that carpet off the edge of the stair. Remove staples using pliers. Cons: Unfortunately, the carpet also tends to collect moisture and can suffer from mold issues if placed in a damp location. So, here we go!! I have a set of carpeted plywood stairs in my house and have googled a bit on this. The VERY talented stair guy started on the bottom and worked his way up. A: You will likely need several coats of finish, lightly sanding between each coat. Do we need to stain and/or polyurethane the entire piece of wood, or is it okay to just finish the parts of the stairs that are visible? We were tearing up downstairs so that was the only part that didn’t matter if I was messy on. Follow these step-by-step instructions from Don't Sweat It host Steve Watson. Do this same technique with all the 3,567,987 million staples…. stairs in our Florida home built in 1973 are PLYWOOD !!! The rear part of the overlay may or may not be secured with peel-and-stick adhesive. Home Decor. Explore. You are right looks like chipboard or a subfloor for under carpet. Here's what to know about today's materials, costs and trends, Refinished vintage finds and Scandinavian-inspired furniture spice up a two-tone palette in this Boise blogger's home, Take your staircase to the next level with these 13 ideas, Learn how math and craft come together for stairs that do their job beautifully, http://www.viewalongtheway.com/2013/08/how-to-install-iron-balusters/, Try DIY Plywood Flooring for High Gloss, Low Cost, What to Know Before Refinishing Your Floors, 11 Reasons to Love Wall-to-Wall Carpeting Again, The Upstairs-Downstairs Connection: Picking the Right Stair Treatment, 12 Fresh Alternatives to the Carpeted Staircase, Stair Design and Construction for a Safe Climb, Dilemma: Recessed Medicine Cabinet On Wall Next to Vanity Mirror, Recommendations on kitchen backsplash w/ Tajal mahal quartzite counter. We were thinking of sanding both the flat and riser of the stair and possibly staining the flat, and painting the riser. steps - straigh up. Often the "treads" are really just end caps and the tread doesn't go all the way across. A plywood stair … The steps are carpeted seagrass or similar carpet, bound on edges; so only 3 to 4 inches of wood are exposed. Yes, this is a pain, but, it’s really important for smoothing out imperfections in … 36″ x 10-1/2″ Unfinished Oak Interior Stair Tread and 42″ x 10-1/2″ Unfinished Oak Interior Stair Tread are the two sizes the kits come in so we ordered seven of the 36 inch and six of the 42 inch after measuring both sets of stairs and determining the crazy size differences. NuStair: How to Refinish or Retread Your Carpeted or Wood Stairs. To me, the most important little tool is the tack cloth because even after vacuuming and cleaning the stairs I still got a huge amount of lint on the cloth. He selected ¼” oak veneer plywood for the final wood grain finish. They look great but the squeaking is terrible. It is tedious but not a hard process, just use a pair of pliers and start ripping the staples out. Our stairs are made of 4X10in rough cut pine planed and sanded. I could see where there had been a carpet that was in the middle of the hardwood floor. Bare wood stairs or Carpeted Stairs? One thing about the runner was that no matter how much we seemed to be good about trimming their nails the runner was plagued with pulls and loops from their nails. Step 4: Measure Stairs. A: Rather than staining plywood, why not do something funky like paint them and then add a stencil? I tried to sand, stain, and poly it but I cannot get a smooth finish all over. One of the houses we were in had a carpeted runner and that really helped the dogs but the Golden would occasionally fall even with that. how to fix a staircase The least expensive thing might be to cut off the bull-nose edge and then vinyl tile over the stairs. We were thinking of sanding both the flat and riser of the stair and possibly staining the flat, and painting the riser. Installing carpet over OSB stair treads essentially is the same as installation over traditional wood stair treads. If the edge of your stairs are rolled….the wood is most likely a common pine tread (which is what my stairs are). The trick is being sure to get all of the staples out that kept the carpet and pad down. We skim coated every stair, then sanded it smooth. If installed properly, it will give your stairs a brand-new look, and your stairs will be more functional, more comfortable, and quieter than before. A fresh coat of paint can transform your staircase without a lot of money. This, however, would leave scuff marks on the riser from shoes, etc. Remove the carpet tack strips with a hammer and chisel. It has been a few years coming but we finally got around to refinishing our pine wood farmhouse stairs. I've just finished putting laminate on my stairs. The bright side of this project is that the stair treads come in their natural state. We are replacing carpeted stairs with oak stair treads. For a substrate, he cut ¼” luaun underlayment to fit the stairwell opening, leaving space for a 1½” nose board. This was never meant to be a finished floor. Make sure all dust is removed before brushing on another thin coat. Learn a simple way to fix a loose banister. What is the best way to replace with hardwoods? Or a runner? Jan 18, 2013 - Painted pickets & stairs: how to make that cheap plywood under your carpet look perfect and polished and finished. Great job!!! Step 3: Cut Existing Nosing. And then paint. As we’ve mentioned, refinishing stairs requires a lot of detailed, manual work. Then put your runner. After removing the old carpet from the stairs, Dick was left with ½”-thick plywood sub-steps. Applying Carpet. An up close view of the new stair treads, waiting to be fitted and installed. I found this video, which was helpful.