Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Stair railing complete!

The stair case is now 99% complete. It still needs new light fixtures at the base and top of the stairs, a piece of trim where the stair case meets the plaster, and some general sanding/touching up. But for now it's pretty good we think. We have a house guest coming on Friday and need to get the house in shape so this wasn't a minute too soon!

Here's what it looked like before:

Here it is now:

Keep in mind that *none* of this is original to the house. The newels are cedar 4x4s clad with oak/oak trim, the railing is from central fairbank lumber (that was a gong-show and a half...), and the balusters were ripped out of a 1x8 of select pine. This meant that the balusters are rectangular and not square which we think gives the stair case a bit more of a craftsman-type feel.

8 comments:

Timeless Style Design said...

Wow - looks amazing! I've been trying to decide what to do with our stairs -- currently they are painted fir with a runner we inherited from the previous owners. I love the two-tone wood/paint look but I'm wondering if the painted risers would get scuffed/chipped (then again, I guess your foot never lands that far forward on the tread so perhaps I've just convinced myself to go for it!) How long did it take you to sand and paint the stairs?

416fixerupper said...

We didn't sand/stain/paint the original wood.

The original treads were cracked and covered with a mysterious orange varnish. We cut the nosing off them and put new stair treads over them (we got a good deal on some oak veneer treads from RONA). We then used quarter inch plywood to clad the risers.

Unknown said...

It looks great! It must feel nice to finally be finished! I love the white paint against the dark stain. I have been debating on whether or not to tear the carpet off my stairs... I really like this look, but I am afraid of what I will find underneath!

Eric Pellerin said...

Wow, I am so jealous of all this, it's not even funny. Very very nice work. :)

Jen @ RamblingRenovators said...

For a DIY staircase, that looks fabulous!

Natalie of TheBusyBudgetingMama.com said...

wow so impressed!! we flipped our house and just went under contract and are making an offer on a 104 yr old house this week...can't wait to come to your blog for more inspiration. i'm posting some photos of the place tomorrow.. love your blog! i'm a follower.

Life in Rehab said...

Hi, I did the hop from here:

http://www.homeownersinsurance.org/50-do-it-yourself-blogs-diy-must-reads-for-home-improvement-projects/

where we're both featured. Awesome project. Do you mind if I look around a bit?

Cindy said...

Your staircase is really beautiful! You did an amazing job of it!
Hugs, Cindy from Winnipeg