Small project to fix staircase

[lessel]

Since we moved into our house last year our staircase has been on our fix list. The whole house has dark cherry wood floors that I do not like, but the budget isn’t there address that. However our stairs were downright terrible. They had dark wood treads and risers, which was a weird optical illusion at times. The texture of the wood is slippery, the bullnoses on a few of the stairs were loose, and the handrail was loose, broken up in an awkward way, and swirly and not our style.

We loved the contractor who did our back deck recently (will update that thread with final pics after painting/staining in a few weeks, weather permitting), so we asked them to do this small project to fix the staircase.

Some before and after pics!

[deadwing]

The before pictures don't look that bad... but the after is gorgeous!

[lavenderblue]

Looks beautiful!!

[lessel]

Nov 19, 2024 10:22:18 GMT -5 deadwing said:

The before pictures don't look that bad... but the after is gorgeous!

Thanks! I didn't actually take before photos, so those are from the listing pics/video... which always hide a million issues. Way brighter in those pics than in real life, and doesn't show that like 4 steps had loose bullnosing, one of which had the added bonus feature of an exposed nail if you stepped on it wrong. 😬

[maudefindlay]

Great job. That will allow you to change flooring in the future without having to match wood tones.

[RockNVoll]

That looks great! Would you mind sharing rough cost of that project? Our builders put in the wrong balusters during our build and I'm curious how much it would set us back to change it.

[lessel]

Nov 19, 2024 12:27:42 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

That looks great! Would you mind sharing rough cost of that project? Our builders put in the wrong balusters during our build and I'm curious how much it would set us back to change it.

The parts/labor aren't broken down on our estimate, but that combined for the railing, iron balusters, and posts was 2,600.

Tbh we didn't get other estimates for this project. We went with the contractor we were working with on our deck for convenience and knowing the quality of their work. They were mid-range of the 5 quotes we did for the deck. Last year we had priced this project out with a previous wood flooring guy we worked with a few times over the years, and his overall cost for the project was less, but he ghosted us the week he was supposed to start. 👎

[RockNVoll]

Nov 19, 2024 13:14:58 GMT -5 lessel said:

Nov 19, 2024 12:27:42 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

That looks great! Would you mind sharing rough cost of that project? Our builders put in the wrong balusters during our build and I'm curious how much it would set us back to change it.

The parts/labor aren't broken down on our estimate, but that combined for the railing, iron balusters, and posts was 2,600.

Tbh we didn't get other estimates for this project. We went with the contractor we were working with on our deck for convenience and knowing the quality of their work. They were mid-range of the 5 quotes we did for the deck. Last year we had priced this project out with a previous wood flooring guy we worked with a few times over the years, and his overall cost for the project was less, but he ghosted us the week he was supposed to start. 👎

Oh that's a lot less than I would've guessed. Thanks for sharing; no plans right now to do this project but it's helpful to have an idea. Though who knows what'll happen if/when tariffs become a real thing.

And boo to being ghosted--that's the worst!

[lessel]

Nov 19, 2024 13:17:52 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Nov 19, 2024 13:14:58 GMT -5 lessel said:

The parts/labor aren't broken down on our estimate, but that combined for the railing, iron balusters, and posts was 2,600.

Tbh we didn't get other estimates for this project. We went with the contractor we were working with on our deck for convenience and knowing the quality of their work. They were mid-range of the 5 quotes we did for the deck. Last year we had priced this project out with a previous wood flooring guy we worked with a few times over the years, and his overall cost for the project was less, but he ghosted us the week he was supposed to start. 👎

Oh that's a lot less than I would've guessed. Thanks for sharing; no plans right now to do this project but it's helpful to have an idea. Though who knows what'll happen if/when tariffs become a real thing.

And boo to being ghosted--that's the worst!

I do think we might have fewer balusters than maybe a traditional staircase layout. It's hard to see but we only have a little bit of railing at the very top and two smaller posts up there. We also went with 2 balusters per stair, which we realize is not to current code (3 per stair). We followed all of the code rules with our deck, but we're now livin' dangerously over here with an extra inch of space between balusters.

[RockNVoll]

Nov 19, 2024 13:21:27 GMT -5 lessel said:

Nov 19, 2024 13:17:52 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oh that's a lot less than I would've guessed. Thanks for sharing; no plans right now to do this project but it's helpful to have an idea. Though who knows what'll happen if/when tariffs become a real thing.

And boo to being ghosted--that's the worst!

I do think we might have fewer balusters than maybe a traditional staircase layout. It's hard to see but we only have a little bit of railing at the very top and two smaller posts up there. We also went with 2 balusters per stair, which we realize is not to current code (3 per stair). We followed all of the code rules with our deck, but we're now livin' dangerously over here with an extra inch of space between balusters.

Great point; we do have a lot more balusters for the staircase in our current house. And three balusters per stair on yours would practically be a wall--codes are sometimes nutty.

[darby]

Wow! What a change! It looks so great!!

[k3am]

That looks great, the balusters give it such an nice update without distracting.

[heygrey]

The update looks amazing! I like that you squared off the bottom step. I rarely like a rounded step. Takes up unnecessary space and easy to stub a toe on!

And how nice to have a contractor you like and trust! I feel like that is often a headache of homeownership. We have someone we use when we can't DIY and I don't even bother getting quotes anymore. His team is reliable, their work is great, I feel safe with them in my house. They are never the cheapest or the highest. I'm happy with middle of the road pricing and a team I like.