What began as a simple winter project has turned into much much more. I am allergic to cats, and Perrie has four; a previous owner must have had a cat or two as well, because Perrie's cats would not leave the carpeted stairs alone. Everytime I walked up and down the stairs my eyes watered and I could not breathe. The carpet had to go. The rest of the house (except for one bedroom) has the original hardwood floors or tile (hate hate hate hate hate the tile) but the tile wasn't making me sick. So it was the carpet that had to go.



I envisioned removing the carpet from the staircase and finding materials underfoot that I could work with, either prime and paint (a stencil of two triangles on their sides, stenciled onto the risers, their points meeting in the middle) or wood found in good enough shape to strip and stain. Months later I now have a new staircase, risers, treads and all, as well as my new niece Khloe. My brother had spent several years working in kitchen cabinetry; and I had two decades of watching the household remodeling romanticisms of Norm Abram and Steve Thomas. Together we were more than qualified to build a new staircase right! Norm had long ago convinced this teenage girl that she would one day have her own salvage yard clawfoot tub, reglazed and gleaming bright! And although I still dream of red polished toes peeking through the bubbles of my own cast iron oasis, for now this girl is satisfied with stairs.



We were unable to salvage the risers and treads, and the existing floor on both landings had to go. I was determined that all floor moulding be carefully saved, as well as the banister, which I found to be oak under the previous owner's white paint. I chose VOC free "Distant Star" for the not-quite-white risers I envisioned; and a black walnut stain for the pine treads. My goal from day one was to waste as little as possible and to reuse all that I could. Trim pieces left from the new treads will serve as medicine cabinet shelves in a repurposed ironing board closet (I don't iron enough to warrant a built in ironing board cupboard, actually, I don't iron at all). The old risers and treads that were salvageable will be painted with gesso and used as alternatives to canvas. The 3" nails Jamie pulled out I can visualize in a collage, bent this way and that way - perhaps finding new life as the limbs of a tree. Ideally I would have wasted nothing, but this was not entirely possible, there were boards (very old and made of some type of mdf) in far too bad of shape to be reused for anything. When comparing the pros and cons of a remodel and its impact on the environment I think you have to ask yourself one thing, what will be harmed and how? I was being harmed by the carpet on a daily basis, my asthma and allergies to Perrie's cats ultimately became the priority.


Thus far I had to purchase 14 pine treads at $11 a piece and various wood pieces for the risers. Birch was by far my favorite, but as the risers were being primed and painted we tried to use mis-cuts from the discount cart at home depot or other wood pieces in order to save money. We painted the ceiling (I already had ceiling paint) and the walls with VOC free Distant Star. Remaining Distant Star will be used to paint the moulding in the mud room as well. For staining I purchased tack cloth and an all natural lambswool pad, the tack cloth they sell at Home Depot for $3.99 is only 0.59 cents at Kwal. Lots and lots of tack cloth! I had primer left over from a 5 gallon bucket I purchased when we moved in, using primer that's sat for well over a year, along with other paints I've had for quite a while, led me to the decision to splurge and spend $16 to purchase a paint stirrer that attaches to my sad little 16V drill. I love this product! It easily came clean after each use, I won't paint again without it. There was a visible difference between the primer I stirred with various accoutrments and the primer stirred with the drill stick. When I stirred using the drill attachment the primer went on more evenly and faster, I used a considerable amount less, and when it dried it looked flawless.



On the risers I used my favorite wood putty to fill in the sunken screw holes (it's $4.95 but I keep it in the fridge so it will last forever). I then used 150 grit to sand them smooth, vacuumed, tack clothed, 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of Distant Star, and voila - risers so smooth you would never know where the screws went in (jamie and I are both just a little bit OCD).



My brother's old boss allowed us to come into his warehouse and take all the tools we needed, chop/mitre saw, table saw, air compressor, pinhead nailer, paper roller, you name it. He was very gracious, Jamie now owes him a favor, for which I feel responsible for, but I did wipe Jamie's little baby butt for years, so maybe we're even. Not having to purchase or rent any tools saved me a lot of money - hundreds of dollars I'm sure. A quart of stain and a gallon of poly (specifically for high traffic floors) set me back $60 (Sherwyn Williams). But I will use both the stain and poly once the outdoor dining table and chairs come out of the shed.

I have yet to poly the stairs. The stairs are beautiful, with the second coat of stain applied like a glaze we were able to achieve that hand rubbed look. But I'm not sold on the poly. Is there anything we could use that would be non-toxic, or less toxic, to seal and protect the stairs? I have yet to find such a product so we will probably have to poly. For now the stairs are covered in brown paper to protect them until a decision is made. The stairs endure the traffic of dogs and cats and people so I need something durable. My sister has graciously offered to let us stay in her home during the polyurethane process. I will have to seal the staircase, vacuum, tack cloth, poly, buff, and then repeat twice more.

Once the stairs are complete we will do something with the landing, but for right now I think an area rug will suffice.

My next project is to build a clothesline.