Stairs

About These Projects

Both of these stairs projects are great examples of how you can stretch your home improvement budget by reusing existing materials whenever possible. The owner pulled off the carpeting on the first set of stairs, leaving holes from the staples and chipped paint from foot traffic. We patched the holes with wood filler, sanded, and painted the trim for a bright, smooth finish without having to replace the lumber. On the second project, we moved a staircase from the back to the side wall of the living room, which opened up the space to fit more furniture. We also added a useful storage cubby and other details to the new landing.

    Photo Gallery

    Wooden staircase with holes and scratches on trim

    1.Stairs

    #BEFORE The trim on these stairs has hundreds of holes and scratches from carpet staples that were removed.

    Damaged trim patched with wood filler

    2.Stairs

    #DURING We saved the homeowners time and money by patching, priming, and painting the wood trim, rather than replacing it.

    Repaired and painted trim on staircase

    3.Stairs

    #AFTER Sanded and painted, the trim on the stairs shows no sign of the damage from carpet staples.

    Trim on stair landing has chipped paint and holes

    4.stairs

    #BEFORE Trim on the landing was chipped and covered with holes from carpet staples.

    Trim on stair landing is smooth and bright

    5.stairs

    #AFTER We patched the trim on the landing with wood filler, then sanded and painted it to restore it after damage by carpet staples.

    Couch and rug in front of stairs in living room with hardwood floors

    6.Stairs

    #BEFORE In the original layout of this old Denver home, the owner had to put her couch in front of the stairs because it didn’t fit along the back wall between the bottom of the stairs and the window.

    Carpeted staircase with handrail lands in room with hardwood floors

    7.Stairs

    #BEFORE This flight of stairs cuts up the living room in this old Denver home, making it hard to fit a couch or loveseat. The owner envisioned a much smarter layout by rotating the stairs 90 degrees to the other wall. She started the room’s transformation by painting the back wall cranberry.

    Builder unscrews handrail post from floor at bottom of staircase

    8.Stairs

    #DURING We removed the carpet, handrail, and posts before rotating these stairs to the opposite wall to make more space in this living room.

    Toolbag and tools on top of raw wooden stairs with open triangle gap under steps

    9.Stairs

    #DURING We discovered an active heat vent (dark spot under third step) when we moved these stairs in this old Denver home. The hot air was trapped under the stairs, wasting money and energy.

    Framing of stair landing behind shop vac sitting in rectangle of cut out floorboards on hardwood floor

    10.Stairs

    #DURING We removed the bottom flight of stairs up to the original landing—and all of the debris underneath it.

    Open framing of staircase with 4 stairs and landing with tools on top

    11.Stairs

    #DURING We reused 4 of the 5 original steps when we rotated these stairs to the other living room wall. We also built a second landing to keep plenty of headroom on every step. Underneath, you can see the beginning of the new heat ducting we added to pump out the hot air from the vent we uncovered.

    Hammer and glue outlet in drywall cubby below wooden handrail posts and above heat vent grate cover

    12.Stairs

    #DURING We built a storage cubby into the new landing and relocated an outlet to the back of it for easy access. (It was also a handy spot to put our tools while we glued wood plugs to cover the bolt holes in the railing posts.) Heat from the bonus vent we discovered under the stairs is now pumped out the new vent grate cover in the bottom corner.

    Builder uses power drill to secure metal baluster to wooden handrail

    13.Stairs

    #DURING Josh installed a handrail and metal balusters on the new landing to match the original ones that we reused on the stairs.

    Staircase and landing with cubby and heat vent grate cover in room with dark hardwood floors

    14.Stairs

    #AFTER We maximized the functional space in this cozy living room by moving the staircase from the back (cranberry) wall to the left (tan) one. The owner said it felt like we added a room! We built a storage cubby, outlet, and heat vent into the new landing to add more valuable features in this old Denver home.

    Stairs on right and couch on left against back wall of living room

    15.Stairs

    #AFTER We rotated these stairs to the left to give the owner more usable space in her living room. Now, her couch fits between the stairs and windows along the back wall without blocking the new heat vent and cubby in the landing.

    Couch and arm chair on top of rug to the right of staircase in room with dark hardwood floors

    16.Stairs

    #AFTER In the original layout of this old Denver home, there wasn’t enough space for a couch between the stairs and window. Once we rotated the stairs to the left, there’s plenty of room for furniture and guests in this cozy living room.