DIY Carpet to Wood Stairs | Week 4 | Fall 2020 ORC

Is it week 4 already? Are we sure? We definitely will be getting our hustle on these last couple weeks. However, we accomplished a big chunk that we had no idea we would need to tackle until we pulled up the carpet last week. Good news, is that we did it. Bad news, is it took twice as long as expected.

New here? If you want to see the whole project here’s Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and this week, WEEK 4.

The One Room Challenge is a biannual event where 20 Featured Designers and tons of Guest Designers, like me, transform a space in just 6 weeks and share the whole process. Sharing DIY’s, tips and tricks, and loads of inspiration! You can find all the spaces being created this season by going to the One Room Challenge blog. Oh and Better Homes & Garden are the media sponsors for this amazing event!!!

I want to break down how we did it just in case you ever want to get rid of your carpeted stairs and replace with wood or hard flooring.

We’ve been wanting to replace our carpet ever since we moved in. This entry project got us to finally pull the trigger. I ordered Coretec Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring from Factory Flooring Direct to cover the old raw wood treads. But before we can install this we need to get the stairs ready.

FIrst, I ripped up the carpet and padding. I expected to see plain old raw wood stair treads underneath. Instead, I found those, PLUS drywall sandwiched between more wood. Ugh. This meant we had to replace the treads to go the full length of the stairs. Good thing that the price of wood has about tripled recently…. another big eye roll. It had to be done though. At least with the new wood it’s clean and straight. If we had known this before we ordered the LVP, we would’ve just ordered hardwood stair treads stained to match the LVP. That way we wouldn’t be covering up brand new wood. Let it go Jenasie, let it go… Also, we realized this after I had removed about 1,000 staples from the old treads. Apparently, I just like to do extra work.

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Next, we removed the extra wood that was added to attach the carpet rounding the stairs, pulled up each stair tread one by one, cut the drywall down so the new tread would run the length of the stair and have an inch overhang. To do this, we measured the stairs and bought enough 2 in x 12 in x 8 ft pine wood boards. Pine wood is a cost friendly, standard wood for these kinds of projects. We got the 8 ft length because our treads were 4ft and that made it easy to just cut each in half. I also learned that 2×12 boards actually measure 1 1/2″ x 11 1/4″. This is because the raw slab is that length. They trim it and let it dry out, which makes it shrink. Ya learn something new everyday!

Before we installed the new treads we added a trim along the wall going down the stairs. This gives a nice, clean look on the stairs and makes the baseboards flow seamlessly. We took a 1 in x 10 in x 8 ft board and shimmied it in the gap between the wall and the stairs. We did have to trim some of the stairs down to get it to fit in. We made sure the angle lined up and cut it to fit. The other side of the stairs was a bit trickier. It went under the over hang to go down the stairs. We used a String and nail to draw a nice level straight line. Then, we measured each stair and cut it so it lined up underneath. We enlisted the help of my carpenter/contractor dad for this part. It was pretty tricky to get them each to fit just right. This required a loooot of measuring.

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The LVP we are adding on top of the stair has a rounded bull nose. This will stick out a 1/2 inch further. We didn’t want the stairs to be too long or they become a tripping hazard. So we cut each tread down to make the tread measure 11 inches total once we add the bull nose. 11 inches is a standard stair tread depth.

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After the trim was up we were able to put in the new tread pieces. Like I said before, we cut each board in half and then nailed them down. The bottom stairs leading to the basement are smaller than the top steps. They were in better shape than the top stairs and we didn’t have to worry about an overhang. We got lucky and only had to replace 2 of those.

Once installed we sanded around each edge and we were ready to paint! We caulked the trim to the wall, primed, and painted the trim a satin extra white. Above you can see it primed. The stairs, risers, and railing are all going black. I purchased Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel in Tricorn Black Semi-Gloss for these. That is the same color on the ceiling, but in a different sheen. This particular paint is meant to withstand a lot of wear.

Being on the stairs I need it to hold up to a lot of abuse and be washable. It’s a thick paint that is self leveling to give a nice clean look. It does have a higher price tag though. I’ll keep you informed with how it holds up, but I know so many people that swear by it. I primed and then painted the front edge of the trim and under the over hang with it. You wait 4 hours between coats to let cure. After two coats we were able to nail on the risers.

For the risers, we decided to add a thin 1/8 inch thick hardboard. The current risers had lots of nail holes and looked rough. It was much easier to add this clean, flat wood on the front instead of filling the holes and getting the wood smooth. Plus, this covered up the exposed drywall that is on the edge of the stair. We cut this hardboard to fit each back of the stairs and numbered them. Each stair has slightly different heights. Numbering the back side of each was key. You can see them primed above.

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I used two coats of the paint on these as well. We used liquid nails to glue each piece to the riser and then used a brad nailer to get them on there nice and tight. I still need to use spackle to fill the tiny holes from the nails and touch up the paint.

And Viola!

Aren’t they beautiful already?! I am so freaking happy with how they turned out. It was definitely waaaay more work and time consuming than I expected, but the end result makes it all feel worth it. Now, all we have to do is add the LVP to the tops of the stair treads and paint the railing! Then the stairs will be done! Woohoo!

We still have wallpaper to hang, new door to paint and install, hardware install, new light switches, hang mirror, paint front entry exterior pots, and add accessories. Can we do all that plus the flooring in just two weeks? Well, stay tuned. Follow along in real time on my Instagram Stories. This is going to get interesting!

Cheers,

Jenasie