When Superman came home in November, he was so happy to be home and so grateful to be out of his CHU ("Containerized Housing Unit") that he found most of our home "perfect". Most of our home. That rosy view of things did NOT extend to our stairs.
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| Ugly Carpet, Squeaky Stairs |
Nope, every time he went up or down the stairs, he got more and more disgruntled with them. He started researching "How to Replace Your Stairs" online. He started watching a lot of YouTube videos. He started looking at materials at Home Depot and Lowe's. He started his campaign to convince me it could be done in one day. (Hey! It was an important point...all the bedrooms are upstairs!)
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Not one of the treads was made with a single board. No wonder
the darned things squeaked and felt wobbly!! |
Finally, the disgusting (yes, disgusting) carpet was ripped up and we quickly discovered that a) there was a good reason the stairs never seemed firm and b) of course, it was going to be bigger job than Superman had anticipated.
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| Hey, let's just use leftover 2 x 4s!! |
The treads weren't actually treads...they were made of scrap wood left over from the initial construction of our home.
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| Ooh, yeah, let's use leftover particle board siding for the risers, too! |
The risers weren't right, either...they were actually made of leftover siding and just turned around. Fabulous construction, isn't it? We were appalled.
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The view from the top of the stairs...stipped down to the stringer. Three
stairs at a time, so the upstairs wasn't cut off for too long. |
So, it was all the way down to the stringers and starting from scratch...poor Superman! He enlisted some child labor, though, the job went quickly.
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| Ah, this is what treads and risers are supposed to look like! |
Superman kept his promise and were replaced in a day. The end of the first day saw first phase of the project completed...but not before "someone" let the crowbar fall back behind the stairs and slide all the way to the bottom step.
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And off comes the riser to retrieve the crowbar...and a few screws that were
dropped along the way... |
A little "de" construction was necessary to actually finish the job for the day. (Still not sure which of the men bears responsibility for the crowbar mishap...it is dependent upon which one of them you ask!) Finally, to finish the job, the next day, Superman added stained bullnose treads and finished risers.
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Aren't they gorgeous? Best of all, they're so sturdy and quiet!
Functional beauty...absolutely fabulous! |
And, just like that, we went from disgusting stairs to beautiful stairs. Well worth the inconvenience, wouldn't you say?
2 comments:
Beautiful! Your men did a great job, even if they did have a crowbar mishap.
The new stairs are gorgeous :)
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