DIY Carpeted Stairs Renovation | HW|Designs

Straying a little from woodworking on this one with a full new set of stairs. The awful carpet and old school railing had to go, and since we were making changes I opted to do it big with an ALL BLACK stair case. I used small, modern tiles to add a little texture and funk to the landing. LMK what you think!

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Music Credits:

Rose in the Garden
Cody Francis
https://player.epidemicsound.com/

*Transcript of Voiceover

How to upgrade, or how I went about upgrading my carpeted stairs.

Let’s get into it.

I started by tearing out the old, dirty carpet using a pair of pliers, a crow bar here and there, and just some good old fashioned elbow grease

Then I took up the underlayment and the tack boards, and all of the staples holding everything in place.

If you are a fan of DIY’s of the woodworking variety, while I wrap up this demo, check out this recent chair build I’m super proud of, then come back for the big reveal.

Once the mdf treads and risers were bear, I used a tape measure and square to measure and mark the distance of each tread over hang

Then using a circular saw, I cut along this line to remove the old treads nosing.

To complete the cut, I used combination of a pull saw and a reciprocating saw.

Once the old stairs had been fully demoed - i measured the width of each tread before cutting the new pine treads down to size

I did the same for each riser

I measured and cut each set one at a time to ensure a good fit.

Some risers encounter a subwall or other obstacle the required the skil saw

Once all the pieces were ready, it was time to stain the treads and finish them with a high gloss polyurethane

Then paint the risers.

To install the, I used liquid nails to place the pieces, then a finishing gun to anchor them all in place.

Once the treads and risers were in, I needed to patch the newly exposed drywall holes.

Then, patch the slight marks left by the nail gun in both the risers and treads


With the patchwork and paint drying, I turned to tiling the landing. I started by cutting a piece of backer board down to size, to fit comfortably on the landing.

Then, using the back of the bag instructions, mixed the thin set.

I then spread the thin set across the landing using a trowel to both level and then score the motar.

With that done, I placed the backer board, then anchored it with backer board screws rougly about every 8 inches.

Once that was dry, I applied another layer of thin set on top and began laying the tile sheets.

While the thin set dried and set the tiles, I turned to the railing.

I deinstalled this very basic, 2000’s home railing and began by cutting off the, I’ll say it, poorly mitered corner pieces.

Then, using the table saw, trimmed the rounded edges.

With the trim router, I applied a nice 45 degree bevel on every 90 degree corner

Then gave both pieces a finishing level sand down, before applying the same black stain and polyurethane to match the stair treads

To reinstall the railing, I simply affixed the existing hardware .Keeping it simple

With the thin set dry, it was time to apply the grout. I chose a dark grey, using the trowel to sweep it into the cracks, then a combination of sponge and rag to wipe the tiles clean.

To finish off the landing after that, I applied some custom trim pieces. I could have found and fit some more tiles/tile caps, but this process using ¼” plywood proved to be a cost effective way to achieve a very similar aesthetic in my opinion.

I gave the nosing of the landing trim a chamfer to soften the corner

Then, turned to tidying wall patches and paint lines.

Lastly, I used a black caulk to fill the gaps between the tile and landing trim.

And that’s a wrap.

Next time, we’re back at the woodworking bench with these diffused lighting sconces… and don’t worry, they’re battery powered!