Stair makeover- Need to whine, and a little advice. (pips)

[lavender444]

You guys, this stair makeover is no joke! I am soooooo sick of painting. I thought sanding would be the worst part, but I was wrong. Painting is such a bitch! I spend hours every day painting and I still need to cut in on the bridge area and do another coat on all the balusters. I probably have another 15 hours of work ahead of me. Ugh!

And, these oak areas, right next to the carpet, should I paint those white (like the first set of stairs) or stain them dark like the rails?   If they get stained obviously I'll sand off the white on the first set, and stain that, too. I think the carpet looks less gross next to the stain, but that will be replaced down the road, so I want to do what looks best overall.

[hbomdiggity]

Omg. That looks like so much work!

I vote paint.

[TBM]

It looks gorgeous...well worth all of your hard work.

When I saw the first photo I thought you could leave it, so that it would match all of the white trim, but the photo with the landing makes me think that you need to paint it.

 ETA:  oops!  just realized that you meant just the oak, not repainting the white, in which case I would paint the oak white to match the other trim piece.

[auntie]

So much better.

But, yeah, a hella job.

[nomad100]

I think stain versus paint. But I like the contrast of the wall color to the dark wood. And it goes with the dark door.

The after is amazing and while I know that it is a giant PITA, it will all be worth it once it is done and you can sit back and AW yourself for years to come knowing that it is because of your hard work.

[ktzmoh]

That looks great, but I don't envy you the job. I'd paint the oak part white

[cjeanette]

I would paint the oak white.

It looks so good!!! I paint ours black after moving in and it was such a pain. I still need to go back and do touch ups but I can't bring myself to get around to it.

[bunnies]

It looks great so far! :-)

[msmerymac]

I would use white to match the trim in the house. Great job so far!

[policegirl402]

Another vote to paint the oak white. Great job!

[downtoearth]

You're really making progress. I'd just paint the unpainted wood on the stairs white.

[katecoop]

Wow--this is gorgeous! What are you using for the dark? Is it a gel stain or regular? I love it!

[lavender444]

Apr 16, 2014 14:07:59 GMT -5 katecoop said:

Wow--this is gorgeous! What are you using for the dark? Is it a gel stain or regular? I love it!

It's gel stain. General Finishes Gel stain in Java. I love it. It was easy to work with, went on rich and buffed in beautifully. If I ever get done painting, I plan to seal it all with a satin poly from General finishes as well.

[boiler717]

You did a fantastic job. I agree with white, that's what mine are and I have a similar finish.

[jloww]

I'm tired just looking at the picture.  It looks SO good though!!

[dr.girlfriend]

I was wondering when you posted before if you'd be painting all those spindles! Ugh, looks like tons of work, but it does look great. What condition are the stairs under the carpet? I would be SO tempted to rip that carpet up and just paint everything, and then you can do new dark-stained stair treads later. I think ideally you'd stain that oak part, but I'm not sure how you could do that with the carpet right up to it.   Actually, looking at it again after it posted, I think white would be better, to match what you've done downstairs.

[lavender444]

Apr 17, 2014 8:38:33 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I was wondering when you posted before if you'd be painting all those spindles! Ugh, looks like tons of work, but it does look great. What condition are the stairs under the carpet? I would be SO tempted to rip that carpet up and just paint everything, and then you can do new dark-stained stair treads later. I think ideally you'd stain that oak part, but I'm not sure how you could do that with the carpet right up to it.   Actually, looking at it again after it posted, I think white would be better, to match what you've done downstairs.

I would love to rip off the carpet.  The first thing I did when we bought this house was  peeled back the carpet, hoping for wood treads, but no luck. It's rough edged plywood steps in crappy condition.

Our floors need some attention later down the line. The previous owners installed a pre-finished floor in the living room that was either poorly installed, or was not left to acclimate and it has huge gaps.  It also doesn't match the original oak that is in the rest of the main level. So at some point we'll figure out a hardwood to make everything more cohesive. (H and I differ in opinions on what we should install) At that point I'll take the wood up the stairs but until then I  have to make due with this sickly looking carpet.

[northeastern]

Wow, it looks great! I'm sure it was a lot of work but it makes a huge difference!

[katecoop]

Wow! It's seriously gorgeous! I agree with the white.

[dr.girlfriend]

Apr 17, 2014 9:32:03 GMT -5 lavender444 said:

Apr 17, 2014 8:38:33 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I was wondering when you posted before if you'd be painting all those spindles! Ugh, looks like tons of work, but it does look great. What condition are the stairs under the carpet? I would be SO tempted to rip that carpet up and just paint everything, and then you can do new dark-stained stair treads later. I think ideally you'd stain that oak part, but I'm not sure how you could do that with the carpet right up to it.   Actually, looking at it again after it posted, I think white would be better, to match what you've done downstairs.

I would love to rip off the carpet.  The first thing I did when we bought this house was  peeled back the carpet, hoping for wood treads, but no luck. It's rough edged plywood steps in crappy condition.

Our floors need some attention later down the line. The previous owners installed a pre-finished floor in the living room that was either poorly installed, or was not left to acclimate and it has huge gaps.  It also doesn't match the original oak that is in the rest of the main level. So at some point we'll figure out a hardwood to make everything more cohesive. (H and I differ in opinions on what we should install) At that point I'll take the wood up the stairs but until then I  have to make due with this sickly looking carpet.

Does the carpet continue at the top of the stairs? I would be so tempted to pull it off, even if you just replace it with a jute runner or something. Looks like you could do it for a couple of hundred bucks, and it would also make the painting SO much easier!


littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2012/12/diy-stair-runner.html
www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20508662,00.html

ETA:  Oops, sorry, I didn't realize you added more pics since I posted last.  The carpet is not as bad as I thought, I thought it was like a cream shag.  It's pretty low-pile, which should make painting around it easier, and the pattern in the hall upstairs is actually kind of pretty!

[lavender444]

The carpet is actually fairly high quality. It's just a sickly beige green color that looks even worse now that the things around it have been whitened and brightened. It does continue up the stairs, over the bridge and into our Master. I've spend a lot of time talking myself out of just pulling it all off while my husband is out of town and making due with what's there. He would be not too please with me, though. He's a carpet fan. Not this color of carpet, but carpet in general. Oh well. Can't win 'em all. Once I'm done sanding things, I'll have it cleaned well and hopefully that helps a little.

...and it's not completely out of line for me follow a whim and do it anyways. He does travels a lot. I can't control my impulses all the time.