Spiral staircase and railing help!
I just moved into a home built in 1969 and I don't love the ornate wrought iron (?) spiral staircase and attached railing. It was painted glossy white when I moved in--I repainted it black, but still don't love it.
Having a spiral staircase doesn't bother me (the lower level has a walkout, so furniture and such isn't a problem), I just want a more contemporary look, while still staying true to the overall age/look of the house. Maybe cable or glass? I don't like scrolls or knuckles, etc. Any suggestions?
Also, I pulled the gross carpet out of the stair tread pans and got bids for flooring, but the flooring places I talked to won't put hardwood or laminate in the stair pans due to some sort of expansion concern. Then I thought I'd have concrete poured in the treads, but was quoted $3500 for the dozen or so treads, which seemed really pricey and made me wonder if it would make more sense to just save up and replace the whole thing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Comments (7)
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Diminishing oak grain on staircase hand rail
Comments (6)Forget the advice from "some guy at the store." Wood conditioners are meant to prevent splotching, but they do a poor job at that. Stains are of two basic types - Pigments : finely ground powders - Dyes : chemicals that are dissolved Think of third grade science where you put dirt in a jar of water and shook it and sugar in a jar of water and shook it. What was the difference the next day? The dirt mostly settled out to the bottom. The sugar remained in solution. Pigments work like the dirt and dye like the sugar. The big contrast comes about because the earlywood (large pores) get a lot of pigment in them and the latewood (hard and smooth), does not absorb so much because it's wiped off. Dyes, on the other hand will absorb more evenly and reduce the contrast (at least color wise). So, what you want is a dye. Problem is, Minwax stains are sometimes dyes, sometimes pigments, and often both. They don't tell you. I suggest looking up Bob Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" at your local library, where he shows photos of oak dyed on one half and pigmented on the other. Then get some scrap of oak and test out your intended products and processes on the scrap before starting on your newel post. It's easier to not make a mistake than it is to recover from one. You can get dyes at most woodworking stores such as Rockler and Woodcraft, or via mail order. You can control the concentration by how much dye you add to solvent (distilled water in most cases). So you might want to mix up a series of concentrations and apply each to see the resulting color. But to see the true color, you will have to apply the finish coats as finishes intensify the stain colors....See Moredo i paint the underside of stair railing black as well as the rail?
Comments (4)Yes, of course you do. Take a few minutes to construct a cardboard or plastic shield that can be slid around each of your spindles to keep the paint from getting on them and then carefully paint the underside of the banister....See MoreNeed banister/hand rail help for closed staircase
Comments (5)I really like that!! You may be right that it is better done in a new build, but it's certainly a question I can run by one of our contractors. Even if we can't do it, you really nailed the look I was hoping for : )) Here is the best I've seen on Houzz, but it's difficult to choose online. https://tinyurl.com/SandedBronzeSquareHandRail...See MoreAdd a newell post? Switch to wood hand rails?
Comments (8)OK, you all have convinced me to eliminate the oak look of the risers. While I'm too conservative to paint them, I'm thrilled with the many options for stick on riser decals that can be readily removed, including one with the pattern I've been nuts about for ages! It's called Astra, here. BUT -- back to the newel post/handrail for the upper section of this stairway.....previous comments were that we don't have the open wall for the spindles and we have no place for a newel post. I need to understand if the change I want to make isn't feasible, when it seems to me like it should be...please helps!...See More
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7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoms b
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7 years ago
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