Many of our customers who enquire about hardwood flooring, also enquire about stair renovations. Their concerns cover the gamut of treads covered by old carpeting, surfaces with worn-down treads, colours that do not match the floor, and outdated spindles or wooden spindles that need to be replaced with metal spindles.
Each Concern Requires a Different Approach
Carpeted Stairs
Stair renovations can be done by cupping them with factory made pre-finished treads. The treads are measured, and for atypical treads, we are able to make templates. The carpets from existing stairs are removed and disposed of. Railings are disassembled, and the hand rails are then re-sanded. The spindles are replaced or painted white. Spindles also need to be trimmed, in order to adjust their heights (tread cups are made of 3/4″ thick hardwood). If possible, risers and stringers can be replaced with new ones, or painted white.
Some clients prefer to colour match their spindles with the hardwood floor and the hand rails. Since these cannot be re-sanded or re-stained, they would need to be replaced with new ones.
Stairs Made of Wood
We are well able to match the colour of your renovated stairs to your floor colour. The stair renovation process is completed inside the house. Mostly we re-sand treads and hand rails, whilst other stair parts (such as risers, stringers, and spindles) are primed and painted. The removal of old colour and varnish, followed by painting is quite labour-intensive, but the results are stunning.
It is important to hire experienced tradespeople, as it can be challenging to work with stained wood. The colour of stained hardwood, devoid of varnish, looks very different from finished hardwood. We test the colour on a few wood samples, before making a final decision about the perfect match for the hardwood floor. In some instances, we would be required to take apart and re-assemble the railing, in order to do the priming and painting job.
Veneered Stairs
Some homeowners might consider purchasing treads covered with a thin layer of wood veneer. We do not recommend this option because those stairs cannot be refinished, and the amount of work and the cost involved in refacing stairs is almost the same as the cost of the treads made of solid hardwood.
We always recommend refacing or re-sanding your stairs at the same time as you are renovating your hardwood floor. Doing this separately might result in difficulties maintaining the colour consistency of your renovated stairs and hardwood flooring.