rhome410 - THANK YOU!! I just ordered a sample of the Top Knobs Asbury! Since the "Centers" is different from the Length, I think that means that it screws in from the back. I can't wait for it to arrive! Centers: 2 9/16" (65mm) Length: 3 3/4" The Hafele is cute too, but I like the shape and length of the Asbury better. The Schaub is Gorgeous, but sadly out of budget. :( I'm also ordering samples of: * Martha Stewart's Canopy Cup in Polished Nickel http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&productId=202241364&R=202241364 (I picked up a sample of the Martha Stewart one above in the Bedford Nickel finish: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202241366/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 While I really like the shape, it has a distressed finish that DH isn't fond of. I'm not sure if the polished nickel will be too shiny for our SS appliances, but we'll see!) * And I'm ordering the Century Hardware Milan Cup Pull - it has no screws showing (to appease DH), but, it doesn't have the squared off sides that I like. =/ https://www.century-hardware.com/store/index.php/century-hardware/milan/zinc-die-cast-cup-pull-3-c-c-satin-nickel.html May the best cup pull win! (My fingers are crossed for the Asbury!) Thank you so much again for your help!! :)

I know someone that polyurethaned her construction grade pine stairs. I don't care for it, because the pine looks so cheap. I think I'd rather see an opaque stain used to hide the knots and pine grain. Last Fall I pulled the carpet off of my own stairs. I had a better situation than weedyacres to start with, because my stairs all have a nice "overhang" on the treads. I removed all of the staples and then sanded each step with an electric sander. Of course the sanding made a huge mess, but we had drywall dust everywhere at that time anyway. I'm not sure the sanding was necessary so you might want to be guided by your concern over the sanding dust. The next step was to create a smooth finish on the pine by using a floor filler compound. This stuff just fills in all the staple and nail holes and all of the many grooves that are naturally in the rough pine. It's very easy to apply and drys in 30 minutes. I used a good oil based stain blocker/primer which dries in a half hour. I painted the risers with a regular white wall paint. Finally, Benjamin Moore color matched the Butterscotch Oak floor I had just installed in my living room. I bought a gallon of their floor paint, which was about $75. The floor paint is super thin so it was necessary to put three coats on the treads. Even with three generous coats, I think I used less than a pint to do 6 treads. The beauty of the BM floor paint is that you can walk on it after 30 minutes. When I say you can walk on it, I mean you won't track the paint anywhere. It's like the paint is totally bonded to the stair surface in a half hour. BUT, the top side of the paint, remains tacky for as long as a week. This means you can walk on it, but it grabs every single thing off the bottom of your shoes and holds it. It pulls the fibers right off of your socks. Obviously whatever it grabs, is going to remain in the paint, discoloring it and affecting the finish. A lot of people will use a quarter round molding to cover the gaps between the tread and riser, etc. I hate quarter round. I just filled in the gaps with the floor filler and I think it looks fine as it is. I estimated it would cost me about $100 per stair to put hardwood treads and risers on. I thought if I used good hardwood, I'd end up covering most of it with a runner, to protect the wood. If I was going to use a runner anyway, I thought I'd try the paint, because so little of the stair would show. Well, I never expected the paint to hold up to our traffic. Now that it's been three months and there is no sign of any wear, I'm thinking of skipping the runner. I LOVE the painted stairs and I love not having to use a runner. You'll see some scuff marks on the risers. I never understood why I heard people talking about this problem, as I was sure my feet NEVER touch those risers. Guess what? Your HEELS hit the risers when you are walking down the stairs. I will be repainting the risers soon. The scuff marks you see, happened when the paint was not fully cured. Finally, my stairs are practically orange. They are a perfect match to my oak floor, but the color looks strange when it is paint. I may change the color at some point. Here is a link that might be useful:

This panel/subfloor whathaveyou has a name...I just can't think of it.. Anyway, yes, it's thin enough to snap-probably about 1/4" thick. I've taken a hammer to the back of an utility knife (at the best angle I can under the toekick) and I have gotten an okay edge, but nothing great. I've gotten a very important part done, but might wait for the floor installers to take a look and see if they have a suggestion/tool. If they can't halp me out, I'll try that little hand saw.

THe flash was on while taking the pictures, so it's actually darker then what the pictures show. Maybe I'll try to take more without the flash. I'm not sure we have anyway to test the height as there is no quarter round anyway. The baseboard was placed down before the hardwood so I can't even tell how far down it is. Sonehow I doubt the floor has been sanded a lot. THe rest of the house needs serious work so it seems like the previous owners did little to nothing to keep up with the house, so I odubt refinshing floors was high on their priority. The dining room actually does have hardwood and it was exposed when we bought it. However, when we remodeled the kitchen and opened to the dining room we decided we wnated the same flooring throughout. Our solution was to use a laminate product that looks like tile. So the hardwood is still under there. So you owuld suggest sanding it down and just putting a clear coat on? That may actually be what is done in our hallway as it's significantly lighter (although the width of the wood is quite thinner) Pics of hallway floor Without flash(excuse the strip of carpet): Pics of dining room floor.... Whats under the dining room laminate: Pics of LR floor without flash: