Staircase - That was easy -- not!

The recent, also time consuming, project other than painting all of the doors white has been the stairs. These stairs were beautiful - 1970's with baby blue shag-ish carpet. So, the Mr. and I started tearing up the carpet one night as we walked upstairs to bed. We both stopped at the top, looked at each other, and immediately went to the garage to grab some tools. We had to see what was underneath and glad we did!



After about 200 (literally, not exaggerating) staples, we found that were 200 holes in the tread and risers, which needed to be patched. All that got us through the many staples was thinking of the store, Staples, slogan - "That was easy!" Every time we pulled one out, we got to boast with, that was easy! Even though most were not.

So, out came the handy spackle and the holes were filled. Then multiple coats of primer and Benjamin Moore's Dove White. The yellow definitely needed to go and now it is fresher.



We feel like our home is built with quality and integrity, but the stairs showed a major flaw. There were numerous nails in the back of each step. Only going into the wood maybe 1/8" and then bent over. This caused some problems. First, this is a hazard. Second, the holes are horrible looking. So, Nathan thought lets use the same quarter round around the rest the rooms with hardwood floors to cover it up. After hours of pulling as many nails as possible, three 8 foot sections of quarter round, and two coats of White Dove, the steps are nearing completion!

Up next is some light refinishing and hardcore cleaning of the floors, then new railing and someday in the later future, a runner. For now, we both like the hardwood stair treads. When kids come into play, I think a runner down the stairs will be necessary.