The guy is a hack.

bry911: Thanks for the comment! Do you know the ballpark differences of the labor for the two options? My only concern is it will be hard to sand and stain around the newel post and balusters. But if that's typical and easy for the professional, I am ok with that option. I am considering the replacement only because I have the extra flooring sitting in my garage. I did have to get 2 stair nosing pieces for the 2nd floor and those are expensive!! $180 for a 7 ft piece!!

The labor for staining will probably be less than ordering somewhere between 6 and 14 more of the stair nosings. Right now is actually a great time to go out and find someone to stain them. You might be able to get in on the side-job-because-my-kids-want-bulbous-plastic-yard-toys pricing. A small job like this that can be worked into down days and empty time slots can get you a good price, especially close to Christmas.

The problem with using the remaining flooring is the fact that you can't just slap it on top of your current treads. The floor is either 3/8" or 1/2" - so your first tread would be a noticeably bigger step. To be done right you have to lower every riser by 3/8" or 1/2" - you might be able to cheese it and only take a little bit off the bottom 3-6 risers so that it blends in, but it will be expensive to do all that, unless your contractor will do the labor for free.

i once paid a kidneys worth for a few box's of crummy ikea laminate no longer in production, finished off a few closets and under a vanity 3 yrs later , save the extra flooring in a climate controlled space .

now in regards to your dissapointment perhaps you made a poor hiring decision yourself ? was it a great deal? so great you had to take the leap? mirrors are teriffic for just these situations. Look long stare deep.

Telluwhat: I have to be fair that he meets expectations for all the other works he did including adding two walls, texturing them to match the existing, refacing the fireplace, installing kitchen cabinets and two custom cabinets, baseboards and backsplash. He subcontracted out the painting which was only ok and he also subcontracted out the stairs installation and staining which I am not satisfy with. I did have four quotes and saw real work of each contractor before hiring him. He was not the lowest quote but he is second lowest. The other two workmanship are about the same as him so we hired him. All of the previous work did not have custom floor stain and so I didn't know his subcontractor quality of staining. My mistake for not using my engineered floor and I should know better there will always be differences when trying to custom match the color. Lesson learned, but I still need to fix this.

Bry911: so I should look for staining and refinishing wood floor professional and not stairs professional correct? Would you happen to know anyone in Bay Area CA?

I would personally start at a hardwod floor supplier and just tell them that you are looking for a stain match that is pretty difficult to match. Typically there will be some floor guy who specializes in that sort of thing or just happens to have a real talent for it, so you can get a floor guy who is also a great stainer.

I really don't know any flooring or woodworking guys in the Bay Area sorry. I have a lot of friends in the Bay Area but most are academics and not skilled labor.