Staircase Renovation, Part 2

Well... the steps are done. Thank the good lord, because I was starting to geel guilty locking the cat in our bedroom for hours. The end result, I am totally in love with, mostly because it looks exactly like I hoped it would. And with no issues. Finally, a project without issues!

During Part 1 of this project, I shared with you Steps 1-5.

Part 2 includes a repeat of Steps 4 and 5 and completing Step 6 and 7 if you're installing carpet treads. Here's what to do, after the jump...


Repeat Step 4: Paint
This is where the second coat of paint begins. You'll want to dust and wipe down the steps, since you've probably been walking on them after the first coat dried, and there's bound to be a little bit of dust and whatnot hanging out. Let them dry, and go in to the first steps you painted in Step 4, and paint them again. My second coat I did a little heavier to help make it more even. Don't forget to mark your alternate steps! Once you're done, let them dry according to your paint directions, ours dried to the touch in about 3 hours, and we didn't walk on them until after 4 hours.

Repeat Step 5: Paint, continued
I painted the alternate stairs when Lilly went to bed, and touched up some places I missed while I worked my way down the steps. I am so happy with how the paint turned out, and even more excited because I got a minimal amount on my hands. Which also means a minimal amount on my paint-filled-sweat-pants. Hooray! I taped off the alternating steps again, and let them all dry nicely overnight, and woke up to these pretties:

So white, neat and shiny. Drool.

If you're not installing treads, and are leaving them as-is, then you're done. If you are putting them on, press on.

Step 6: Place the Treads
You'll want to measure or make a little template of sorts for spacing. I am the worst with a measuring tape, so I just used a piece of paper to mark where I wanted them to go. I have no pictures of this process because Lillian was trying to help me by making confetti of extra paper I had on the floor. I'll try to describe as best I can what I did. I am certain Andrew would've measured and did some speedy calculation on getting the treads perfectly centered. If you're one of these people, go for it.

• Guesstimate: Put a tread down, and eyeball it to the center. Scientifically, of course.
• Check Your Guess: Use a measuring tape or ruler on each side until you've got equal measurements (this took me about 1 1/2 minutes, versus the 45 it would've taken me if I were doing actual math).
• Make Template: Cut a piece of scrap paper to the measurement you just figured out. I used a 6 1/4" piece of paper. To space the tread from the riser, I just used one of the nails I was using to attach the treads to the step because it was the perfect size, but you can make a paper template too.  

Place a few treads, and check to see if they all line up...

Say cheese, cat.

Step 7: Attach

I opted to use a hammer and nail (you can glue these instead if you prefer) rather than a nail gun because 1) my brother in law has our nail gun, and 2) I was afraid the nail would go clear through the tread. The tread is only a layer of carpet and a thick, sturdy pad:

These treads come in lots of shades and textures, even astroturf. I swear. We chose a berber texture, in shades of beige and grey to blend in our (sarcasm) *gorgeous* (/sarcasm) black wrought iron railing with grapevines, and it'll also hide any stains that appear.

I hammered in 6 nails to each tread: 1 in each corner, 1 in the top-center, and 1 in the bottom-center. I used brad nails, so there aren't any heads visible. Still with these, you'll want to make sure they don't go all the way through the carpet and it's pad, if you're a real hammerer. As soon as I got the nail down to the top of the carpet, I then gently sunk the nail about 1/4" further under the pile. Continue this until you've got all your steps covered!  

Ready, ready, ready? Here's what they look like now...

Feel free to comment and pin away!!