After Joyce began stripping the paint, I began dismantling the stairs. I decided to have new ballisters turned rather than strip the old ones. A couple of spindles were missing so I would have to get two new ones made anyway. To make sure they all matched I decided to replace them all. As a PS, before I hired Joyce to do the stripping I had a professional give me an estimate for the job. He wanted $20/each to strip those spindles. New ones with exactly the same profile cost $12. In other words, a bit of a no-brainer. |
|
Joyce completed the stripping. The staircase awaits sanding and detailing. Joyce's hubby, John, and I essentially had to recarve the detailing on the newel posts. That's how deep the paint had penetrated into the rough wood.
That’s my other cat, Ripley, by the way. |
The new ballisters are in. I built a red oak panel for the base of the staircase, along with new newel post caps and detail moulding. New baseboard was added to the landing, replacing the poplar that was originally there. Unfortunately, the wall side stringer is also poplar but it’s routed for the stairs. To replace it would mean dismantling the stairs entirely and I’m afraid this old woodwork wouldn’t survive it. |
|
The treads, risers and landings are pine and poplar but I intend to carpet them anyway. The color’s a little off in this picture because of the flash. With the exception of the wall-side riser, which is poplar and was impossible to get stained to look like natural oak, it all matches. |
Comments
banister
Wow, ur did a great job. Im thinking of starting this project but not sure what stripper to use...any suggestions...
This was done mostly with a
This was done mostly with a heat gun and Klean-Strip stripper (available at the chain stores).
staircase
Loved the final project. I am restoring a 100 year old home and stripping all the wood, very dirty job, but I want to see all the details in the old wood, and I know it will be worth the hassle.