Hey there! Do you have a staircase that could use some help? Sure, new carpet would be great, but, wow!, it’s not cheap. And carpet on stairs gets so many stains and wears out so quickly! Find the answer to your problems here with this tutorial from Tracie at Cleverly Inspired. Transforming your stairs from carpet to wood treads will be a project to be proud of and you’ll be so glad you did!
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Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover: Phase 1
For about a year I have been thinking about redoing our stairs. Should I?Can I? Would I dare? Rip up carpet??
Almost 7 years of wear….stains that can’t come up…
I just don’t know. It would be the largest project I have ever done. The hubs was completely behind me.” you can totally do that. It is just carpet. If the wood is bad we will deal with it. Go for it!”
So I did. And here is how it went down…. By the way, thanks for the support. It sure does make a girl feel good!!
Tools needed for ripping the carpet….
Needle nose pliers are your best friend for getting carpet off of steps….
Starting at the corners and pulling with all your might…
I pulled about 3 steps at a time, rolling the carpet as I went up the stairs. Then I used a sharp razor knife and cut the carpet and took it outside. Continuing on this way until I got to the top….
At the top, I cut the carpet with an extra sharp razor knife…leaving the carpet on the rounded part of the top thread where the upstairs hall starts. Pull up all the carpet pad….
To take up all the carpet tack strips, just place a flat head screw driver under the strip—tap in with the hammer and gently pry it up. Keep moving the screwdriver until the tack strip comes up. Do this same technique with all the 3,567,987 million staples….
Ok, maybe not quite that many….but it sure felt like it! I saved them in a solo cup…then I sat with a nice glass of red wine and admired my hard work!!! Phase one complete! Money spent during phase one…ZERO—besides a little blood, sweat and tears….I joke,I joke….
Stay tuned!!!
Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover Phase 2
So if you were here yesterday…you saw that I decided to take the carpet off my stairs….Phase One–Operation Stairs Makeover and here we continue…..
The project continues with a day of sanding and scraping up the paint and caulk that was on the stairs.
Plastic was hung up from every doorway to help the dust…which there was a bunch of …dust!!
We used my Dad’s quarter sheet sander….and we got course (60) grade sand paper. I bought 2 packages.
We ended up using about one little quarter sheet per step…
After all the steps were sanded there was still some junk on some of the steps. So for the stubborn parts I used a stripper (you can find it at Home Depot or Amazon). This stuff is awesome!
Please follow the directions though…be careful please.
You basically brush it on, let it sit 20 minutes and take a metal scraper to it and the paint and gunk just shrivels right off!
So satisifying
When you are finished getting all the gunk (for lack of a better word, sorry) You need to clean the steps gently with some mineral spirits to remove any residue from the sander and the epoxy remover. We decided instead of staining we wanted to paint the treads a deep chocolate color and the risers a semi-gloss white. We could have stained….but a couple of stairs really had paint built in…and we loved the color of the paint. It looks really rich…but also has a lot of character. Love that!
Sneak peek at sample board…..so pretty!
Phase 2 we spent:
$3.94 for 2 drop cloths
$5.97 air-masks
$5.05 for 2 packs of 60 grit sandpaper
$2.68 small metal can for epoxy remover
$8.97 Epoxy and Paint remover
$2.00 for 2 chip brushes
$2.94 jar of sample paint
$31.55 spent….
Stay tuned for Phase 3!
such a good guy….he vacuums more than me! Love you babe!
Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover Phase 3
Here is where we started this project if you are just joining me….Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Operation Stairs Makeover…..
Putter has lost all patience with me by this point. Poor dog…if he could talk, he would be saying “could you please just put back the carpet and end this nonsense woman…” oh no….no carpet for you!
After stairs were all cleaned up good, I could start painting. I primed the risers with a white primer.
Then I painted the treads with the brown. We loved the color Behr Sweet Molasses, it is a true chocolate color–rich and warm and has lots of character. I bought a quart of eggshell finish.
Valspar Signature is a paint and primer in one. I chose Eggshell finish because I am going to be putting 3 coats of polyurethane on the steps and I didn’t want the paint to be so glossy the poly wouldn’t adhere. Perfect for this project. You can find it at Lowes. A quart was plenty for 2 coats on just the treads.
Purdy is really a great brush to use! You can find them at most home improvement stores including Lowes, Walmart and Amazon.
I didn’t bother taping since I have to paint all the white anyway. I painted a coat on…let it dry 2 hours (can said I could recoat after 2 hours) and then put on the 2nd coat. We were able to go up the stairs at night. I painted while the kids were at school so it really wasn’t an inconvenience at all.
The next day I was able to cover the treads with some craft paper and tape the sides so that I could paint the trim white and the risers. Craft paper is sold in rolls near the paint supplies. I cut it to fit on the stairs.
Frog tape really seals nicely—when you go to take it off it has a nice clean edge.
I used a semi-gloss quart of Valspar Signature in White Umber (the color of my trim). I put 2 coats of white on and let dry overnight before taking the paper and tape off. Placing a fan at the bottom of the stairs helps the drying process.
You’ve been so patient….so encouraging…so excited for me. Thanks! I am still in the middle of polyurethane all the coats on the treads….but you can see the final product.
A few of you have asked how many hours this project has taken me…well the first phase (clearing out the carpet and pulling all staples and tacks) took me 2.5 hours–mind you I did this by myself on a Friday. Phase 2 took Bill and I from about 11:30 on Saturday morning till about 4:30 (that includes prep work, sanding, and cleaning up all the dust!). And on Sunday I took about an hour and did all the scraping with the stripping remover stuff. Phase 3 was the painting process and that took about an hour per coat…then I would let it dry for 3 hours and a re coat. So I think you could accomplish this in one weekend (minus the polyurethane step…because that requires some dry time).
If you haven’t seen the first few post on these stairs you can read all about it here….Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 …..
Electric candles people…not to worry—wouldn’t advise real candles on newly lacquered stairs…just sayin
Ta Da!
BOOYAH!
I am coating the stair treads with Minwax Fast-Drying Satin. I am doing every other step. I put one coat on, let it dry 4 hours; then placed another coat. I am doing 3 coats on just the treads. I placed a small piece of tape on the steps that I was allowed to step on (just a mental note for me!) I am using a foam brush. Place a fan at the bottom of stairs to aid in quick drying. It is about $11 for a can.
I know they look dark here but I wanted to show how pretty they look at night with these electric candles on…
He’s impressed….my biggest supporter 😉 We feel so satisfied knowing how much we saved and that fabulous feeling that comes from doing something with your own bare hands.
Goodbye worn out carpet….HELLO pretty wood stairs!
I would say they look like a million bucks—-but then again….I only used $81…and a bit of sweat—but that is always a good thing!!
[pinit align=”center” url=”https://www.remodelaholic.com/under-100-carpeted-stair-to-wooden-tread-makeover-diy/” image_url=”https://www.remodelaholic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Redo-stairs-with-this-tutorial-for-changing-from-carpet-to-wood-by-Cleverly-Inspired-featured-on-@Remodelaholic-533×800.png” description=”Update your stairs with this tutorial for removing carpet and finishing the wood beneath”]
Cassity Kmetzsch started Remodelaholic after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Interior Design. Remodelaholic is the place to share her love for knocking out walls, and building everything back up again to not only add function but beauty to her home. Together with her husband Justin, they have remodeled 6 homes and are working on a seventh. She is a mother of four amazing girls. Making a house a home is her favorite hobby.
I just painted my stairs and I bought decorative stair treads from Wayfair They look great and only cost $80 dollars for 14 treads. They are non-skid but I also used carpet tape for extra security. If you don’t want to go that route you can buy clean sand from your paint depot and mix a little in your last coast of paint of varnish.
Hello! I am researching redoing my stairs also. My carpet is already off. My dilemma is do I need to buy new treads for the stairs. I’ve read a lot and several recommend to put those over the existing stairs. I really would prefer to stain or paint the existing ones but I don’t know if they would be enough support for the stairs. Was your wood just the box wood the house was built with?
Hi! I wanted to know how the stairs are holding up? We have 3 kids and 3 dogs with high traffic stairs but I’m so sick of our carpet and need a cheap alternative and no carpet and this looked perfect!! Just want to know if it holds up well?!?
This is great, we are looking at buying a house that still has the carpet from the 70’s. Yikes, orange and greens in the main stairway that lead up to the house or down to the basement from the main entrance. So I would be doing some serious upgrading. Thankfully the cost of the house is less because of the upgrading it needs. Thanks for the picture play by play, it was helpful.
Thanks so much! So rare to find “the whole show” in excellent detail in excellent English in one place! Now I know what will be necessary to budget for time and energy, not to mention money, and can move on further with Phase Zero — all that planning stuff!
I am a little confused. You say in the aricle you used 2 coats of Behr Sweet Mollases paint in eggshell on the treads and then right under that you have a picture of Valpars paint that you say used on the treads. Please clarify.
hi!!! How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This is a FABULOUS tutorial and I’m gaining more confidence for this project!
you’re so lucky! We ripped off our carpet prepared to do this and they screwed our stairs in so terribly, they’re all cockeyed with the screw heads sticking up at a diagonal! ????
That’s what I’m worried about. If our electric wiring is any indication of how the rest of the house was assembled, I’m afraid to discover what’s under the carpeting.
How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This question was previously asked, but there wasn’t a reply. There are quite a number of folks that would like to know how you finished off the top of the stairs.
Hello, for the question around finishing carpet at the top of the stairs, they mentioned in their “how to” and showed a photo of how they left the carpet at the top of the stairs, the last step, folded down on the riser and used a sharp blade to cut the carpet on the top riser. It appears they left a two inch overhang of carpet on the top riser. I hope this helps. It does look great.
You are very lucky to have treads in such beautiful shape! I have a feeling when I rip up my carpet I will be left with plywood, and no bullnose like yours. It looks great!
Inspired! I have the carpet off the stairs. Unfortunately one stair looks like it was broken and nailed together on the edge of tread. Any suggestions on where to go from here?
Hi Monique — you might have to just replace that tread, unfortunately. You never know what you’ll find under the carpet! If you’d like some more suggestions from fellow DIYers, you can send us a photo and your question over on our Facebook page, too. Just message us here: https://www.facebook.com/Remodelaholic/
Your stairs look wonderful! We are in the middle of doing the same project, and it is nice to see your finished project. I can absolutely relate to tearing off old carpet, all the sanding and cleanup, carpet tacks, etc!
They look great ! I’m thinking on trying this at my house but my concern is with the steps being slippery. Any issues with that?
I just painted my stairs and I bought decorative stair treads from Wayfair They look great and only cost $80 dollars for 14 treads. They are non-skid but I also used carpet tape for extra security. If you don’t want to go that route you can buy clean sand from your paint depot and mix a little in your last coast of paint of varnish.
Hello! I am researching redoing my stairs also. My carpet is already off. My dilemma is do I need to buy new treads for the stairs. I’ve read a lot and several recommend to put those over the existing stairs. I really would prefer to stain or paint the existing ones but I don’t know if they would be enough support for the stairs. Was your wood just the box wood the house was built with?
I love this. Just tore down wall under staircase, making doggy room. Then tearing out carpet on stairs..cant wait.
What a fun project! Send us pictures when you’re done!
Hi! I wanted to know how the stairs are holding up? We have 3 kids and 3 dogs with high traffic stairs but I’m so sick of our carpet and need a cheap alternative and no carpet and this looked perfect!! Just want to know if it holds up well?!?
This is great, we are looking at buying a house that still has the carpet from the 70’s. Yikes, orange and greens in the main stairway that lead up to the house or down to the basement from the main entrance. So I would be doing some serious upgrading. Thankfully the cost of the house is less because of the upgrading it needs. Thanks for the picture play by play, it was helpful.
This looks amazing!! I’m so encouraged to try to do it myself .
Thanks so much! So rare to find “the whole show” in excellent detail in excellent English in one place! Now I know what will be necessary to budget for time and energy, not to mention money, and can move on further with Phase Zero — all that planning stuff!
I am a little confused. You say in the aricle you used 2 coats of Behr Sweet Mollases paint in eggshell on the treads and then right under that you have a picture of Valpars paint that you say used on the treads. Please clarify.
Thank you
hi!!! How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This is a FABULOUS tutorial and I’m gaining more confidence for this project!
I need the answer to this question too lol
you’re so lucky! We ripped off our carpet prepared to do this and they screwed our stairs in so terribly, they’re all cockeyed with the screw heads sticking up at a diagonal! ????
That’s what I’m worried about. If our electric wiring is any indication of how the rest of the house was assembled, I’m afraid to discover what’s under the carpeting.
Love, love the stairs. My issue is that I have floating stairs. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Send a photo to hello@remodelaholic.com we would love to see what you have.
Love what you did and appreciate the details and pics however, I’m bummed that you do not see fit to reply to anyones questions. Seems neglectful. ☹️
Glad you love it. We do our best with the questions. Sometimes it takes time.
Please share what you did at the very top step to transition to other flooring
I am just seeing this fabulous reno today. It looks beautiful! It’s been a few years, how has it held up?
How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This question was previously asked, but there wasn’t a reply. There are quite a number of folks that would like to know how you finished off the top of the stairs.
Hello, for the question around finishing carpet at the top of the stairs, they mentioned in their “how to” and showed a photo of how they left the carpet at the top of the stairs, the last step, folded down on the riser and used a sharp blade to cut the carpet on the top riser. It appears they left a two inch overhang of carpet on the top riser. I hope this helps. It does look great.
I loved this post! Thank you for sharing your process ❤️ I feel so inspired!
You are very lucky to have treads in such beautiful shape! I have a feeling when I rip up my carpet I will be left with plywood, and no bullnose like yours. It looks great!
Inspired! I have the carpet off the stairs. Unfortunately one stair looks like it was broken and nailed together on the edge of tread. Any suggestions on where to go from here?
Hi Monique — you might have to just replace that tread, unfortunately. You never know what you’ll find under the carpet! If you’d like some more suggestions from fellow DIYers, you can send us a photo and your question over on our Facebook page, too. Just message us here: https://www.facebook.com/Remodelaholic/
Your stairs look wonderful! We are in the middle of doing the same project, and it is nice to see your finished project. I can absolutely relate to tearing off old carpet, all the sanding and cleanup, carpet tacks, etc!