Upper Level Floors and Staircase Makeover

My husband and I decided to take on the task of putting hard floors in the entire upper level of our home and making over the staircase.  The carpets weren't in horrible shape- we probably could have made them work for a couple more years- if we didn't have Lyla (the most destructive 3 year old alive.)  On almost a daily basis, I would find this child sitting in the hallway at the top of the stairs, or hiding behind the chair in her bedroom during naptime- mixing a "magic potion" consisting of toothpaste, body wash, Vaseline, markers, nail polish, (or worse...dare I say it?  Her own poo!)  How did she get into such mischief, you ask?  She's sneaky.  And smart.  And very, very opportunistic.  She learned to capitalize on those moments when I thought she was quietly playing, or sleeping.  She knew when I was distracted by her older brother and sister, and jumped at those opportunities to be as destructive (creative?) as possible.

Exhibit A:

She is very lucky she's such a sweetie.  Anyway- I spent more hours than I'd like to admit scrubbing those carpets, and I finally came to my senses and said, "No more!!!"  We needed something that we could just wipe clean.  I didn't want to spend one more minute of my precious time on this earth researching how to get Pepto Bismol out of carpet!

So we borrowed Trenton's brother's truck and off to Lowe's we went.  Just a side note- Lyla was in heaven riding in the front seat of this truck.  She also loves when we take on projects and shop at home improvement stores, because she gets to pick out a candy if she is good.  She always picks peanut-butter cups and shares with her daddy.  Cute.  Anyway- we loaded the truck with Saratoga distressed hickory and away we went- blissfully unaware of the exhaustion that would soon follow.

We put every single piece of furniture on the upper level of our house in Ben's room.  We all bunked in the living room on an air mattress during the renovation.  The kids thought it was awesome.  I'm glad it was a fun experience for them, but boy did my neck hurt.

I am so grateful for all the help we had from our missionaries and Trenton's brother, Tad.  The bedrooms were pretty straight forward. The most frustrating part of putting the floors in the rooms was the fact that we had to remove all the baseboards and doors, and then, recaulk and repaint all of them once they were put back.  It wasn't difficult- just time consuming.  The stairs, on the other hand, were a real pain in the tush.  Maybe it wouldn't have been so tricky if we didn't have kids that are 3,5, and 7 running around.  I was constantly worried they were going to fall to their deaths any time we had to remove the rail.

To put hardwood on the stairs we removed carpet, removed balusters and rails, and pulled MDF stair treads due to damage and incorrect size for the retread application.  We replaced existing one inch tread with 3/4 inch subfloor and then glued and nailed in place with brad nails and a few wood screws. 

Oh the mess!!!

It was a little (okay- a lot) spooky to walk down the staircase when it was just a skeleton, especially without a railing.  Thanks to my niece, Jessica, for watching the kids during this particularly treacherous portion of the renovation.

Trenton wrapped the existing newel posts in 3/4 inch MDF and decorated the posts with two different types of trim and filled all cracks with wood filler.  Then he sanded, primed, and painted the posts for a chunkier façade.

We created caps by using two pieces of 3/4 inch MDF glued together and then cut to size.  Trenton routed the top and bottom.  The top was routed with a roman ogee bit, and he used a cove bit for the bottom.  Then we glued, primed, painted, done.  Boom.

Even Ben got in on the action.

We used red oak retreads from Lowe's- 42 Inch.  We made the risers using 1/2 inch MDF sheets cut to size and painted before application.  On trim edges we used the trim pieces that are pre-manufactured to match the retreads.

And just like that- we had stairs again!  Yay!  I've never been so grateful to walk up and down my stairs.

We trimmed the exposed edges with an appropriate sized trim piece cut to fit an L shape for the riser and tread.  Trenton created a template to drill all of the baluster pegs using a 3/4 inch forstner bit, then taped and stained using Rustoleum "Kona" stain.  We had to wait a while for it to dry, which isn't easy with 3 excited kiddos, so we decided to kill that time at the theater.  Have you seen Cinderella yet?  Oh my- the little girl in me was filled with delight.  Anyway- once the stain was dry (dry time is 3-6 hours depending on climate) Trenton put down Rustoleum floor polyurethane, in a semi-gloss finish.

Once the poly was dry- the real work began.  Hours and hours and HOURS of taping, caulking, and painting.  My hands were so tired and hurt so badly by the time this project was done.  So did Trenton's, after accidentally shooting his hand with the staple gun.  I'll spare you the gory pictures, but trust me, Trenton and I both fully understand what it means to work your fingers to the bone.

I'll tell you what, though...it was worth it!