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Remove Carpet-Paint Stairs

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I am home again. I came home Saturday afternoon. Still sick, this crud is just hanging on!

I guess you remember these stairs from last week?

stairs-makeover
Removing carpet, tack strip and staples is never an easy job.

how-to-paint-stairs
I painted the risers white, and we decided that we shouldn’t stain the treads due to the wood putty.
stairs-makeover-painters-tape
I rarely use painter’s tape, but because of the stark difference of the white and brown, I thought it would make my job easier.
how-to-paint-ugly-stairs
Even though I taped both edges of each step and burnished them well, the paint was still able to seep underneath. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so this bothered me quite a bit. I re-taped the brown, and tried to touch up the white, and it didn’t really work. Basically I just gave up, and decided that I was too sick, and that the time crunch was working against me.
stained-look-stairs
This set of stairs is at the very end of Jamie’s house. They lead to her finished attic bedroom. If it were a grand staircase in the middle of the house things would be different.

makeover-stairs-with-paint

The people who finished her attic (previous owners) were NOT perfectionists. But all in all I am pleased with how they turned out.

painted-stairs-makeover

I hope that she likes them. I know she appreciates all my help. I was able to do several other things for her, one of which was fixing her light fixture in her upstairs bathroom. It quit working a couple of months ago, and she was using a lamp! I always figure it’s best NOT to work on electricity while alone, so I waited till she could help me. It ended up being only a loose wire in the switch. She watched me, and now I think she could change out a switch on her own.

how-to-makeover-stairs-paint

I also painted her hand rail. Here, you can see that I put primer on it. I forgot to take a picture of it after I painted it. It was one of the last things I did Saturday morning before I left.

top-riser-mess
This is the top riser. You can see that it was quite a mess. That is a rigged up cable TV wire running across.

fixing-top-riser

I cut a piece of luan (well, actually Handy Graham cut it for me, cause it was his luan and his table saw) It slipped on there quite nicely after I notched it. But that cable wire was still a problem .

hiding-cord-riser

Because the original riser was sort of “layered” I was able to slip the cable wire in a little groove of the boards to tuck it away.

While visiting Jamie I also stained a headboard and foot board for her (pictures to follow later this week, hopefully) helped her paint her office, and worked on her storm door (the glass was loose)

The next major project is to take up the carpet in her upstairs bathroom. I hope we can work on that this winter (after the first of the year)
I usually post curb/thrift finds on Mondays, but because I wanted to show these stairs finished, I’ll post my recent finds tomorrow.
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
       

 

 

 

 

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ABOUT GAIL WILSON - A teacher at heart, Gail Wilson relishes the chance not to show off her projects, but to help others find their inner handywoman, step-by-step. Her blog, MyRepurposedLife.com, chronicles her scrap-saving adventures and has been featured on countless DIY magazines and websites, including Women’s Day, Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy. She is a longtime influencer for both Homeright and Gorrilla Glue. With a tribe of more than 450,000 followers, Gail is inspiring a new generation of DIYers to pick up some tools and get to work.

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Comments

  1. Gail, I see you had problems with the paint bleeding through your painters tape. I have a tip for you. After putting your painters tape on. Paint over the edges of the tape with the color that is under the tape. It will create a “seal” and if it does bleed, no one will notice. Now paint away with no worries of bleed through!

    Reply

  2. I don’t know if you will see this after so long, but I would love to know what you would do for uneven gaps in the wood stairs. I have carpeted stairs & would love to remove the carpet, but I know that there are big (inch or so) gaps in the edges of the stairs. Wood putty??

    Reply

  6. It looks fantastic. I think the white brightens everything up. And I completely feel your pain on painting those risers! I used tape on some steps and just gave up on others. My paint job is far from perfect but from a distance you can’t tell. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself . 🙂 Thanks for linking to the party.

    Reply

  7. Nice–I have always had trouble with leakage with the painters tape–I prefer to use a painter’s straight edge thingy (but then you have to keep wiping it!).

    I have white risers and was having lots of problems with scuff marks. I finally found that magic erase removes them quickly and nicely.

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  10. The stairs look great! Good way to hide that cable too {I was going to suggest stapling it under the tread, but you solved it}. Beth over at The Stories of A to Z is having a staircase party coming up, this post would fit right in with that.

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  12. Wow! You did an awesome job on this and were sick to boot! I’m actually working on the same project. So far we’ve removed the carpet, tack strips and nails. You’ve given me hope that it will turn out nice.

    Dena
    sweetpicklesandchocolate

    Reply

  13. You are a loving mama. I know she loves loves loves you. Thanks for sharing the re-do. It’s fantastic. And thanks for sharing the mom-daughter LOVE. 🙂

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  14. You are my kind of mama! I can’t just sit and rest when I visit my daughter. I have to be busy doing something productive and daughter loves it that I help. However….

    I’ve never tried anything as grand as refinishing stairs. Which, BTW, look Fabulous. You are so incredibly talented and you have a very giving spirit.

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  15. You are my kind of mama! I can’t just sit and rest when I visit my daughter. I have to be busy doing something productive and daughter loves it that I help. However….

    I’ve never tried anything as grand as refinishing stairs. Which, BTW, look Fabulous. You are so incredibly talented and you have a very giving spirit.

    Reply

  17. The things we do for our kids! I know that she is so happy to have you to help her do all of those things. The stairs look great!

    Hugs,
    Lee Laurie

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  18. I think it looks awesome Gail! What a great mama you are to do so much for your daughter….and we’re still dealing with the hanging-on sickies around here too. Hope you feel all back to normal soon :o)

    Reply
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me! I read and appreciate every word!

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