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Flooring Paint Design Dilemma

Any ideas on how to do my stair treads and risers?

last year

last modified: last year

Hi! I’m looking for ideas on what to do with our stair tread and risers for our main staircase. im planning to install a carpet runner down the center of the tread/riser and leave a few inches of wood on each side then paint that white. alternatively we could just carpet the whole stair/riser. ive attached a picture of the current stairs and a pic of the carpet we’d like to install. thanks thanks!!

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Comments (6)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
I hope you are not planning on painting the treads at all. Leave the finished wood and the runner in the center to allow the wood to show if of course the treads are actully finished grade wood .
Linda Montoya thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
kandrewspa
last year
It looks like you have nice wood treads so don't paint them white. The risers can be white, but I can't see what they are now - again, if they're nice wood (not plywood), no need to paint them. Whether you do a runner or edge to edge is up to you. I prefer not to carpet stairs at all because they see so much wear, but if you have children or older folks in your household carpet might be a good idea. It's more forgiving if someone falls. I don't think a runner is necessary in your house based on the style visible in the picture which looks like modern/rustic.
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hi. i have the same exact situation and have had stair guys here. It's true that if you make the riser straight, you won't have enough foot room. If you were to put in whole wood treads with nosing, then it would be fine because you'd gain the inch from the nosing. I too wanted to cut cost by doing carpet and doing end treads, but I don't know what to do with the end tread. I don't know if it will look good when viewed from the side angled back. What did you or are you planning to do? At one time, I had carpet rolled over the sides like yours and had them put molding there instead of carpet. It is angled to match the angle of the stairs, and it does not look good. It looks very zig zaggy, like the letter z. I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and have wood treads put in and have everything plumbed to be straight. In this case, then you have to put in molding or skirts to hide the plumbing from the sides. It gets expensive!!!!
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Lincrusta; A strong tuff wallpaper type product pressed in raised relief style, to paint or stain or embellish. Very useful covering flaws in old wall textures or damage. The look of artistic hand made plaster relief but machine made for much less cost in money and time. Great fun to work with and personalize. Example 2 is a dream for walls that are not plumb and straight lines become impossible. Hand painting in more colors to match decor is great fun, and frame as art, or door panels, or trim, etc. I LOVE playing with this type wallcovering! 1 border2 wall 3 crown4 wainscoating
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Leave it. In Ma. we call it character.You got an old house, thats small stuff. From the sounds of it you got bigger fish to fry.But if you're anal , like myself, rip it down and start over.Carpenters don't use a lot of "filler"
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Like the OP, we bought our flooring from a full service flooring store. Among other things, we had discussions about our engineered wood flooring choices, whether the manufacturer carried matching bullnose pieces, and if not, what was the workaround. Our engineered floor in Calif. was about $9/sf for the boards, so that’s, I guess you would say, mid grade. But the whole reason to go with a store like that is for their advice, their experience, their leverage with the manufacturers, their excellent Yelp reputation etc. Otherwise consumers can just buy on the internet... So when you buy and install flooring with a one stop shop, the store *should* manage the customers expectations as to quality and appearance if the floor has such significant shortcomings. Does anyone expect a homeowner to think of these details on their own? Our store explained everything and left no surprises. I am sorry for this disappointment for the OP.
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Linda Montoya
Original Author
last year
I should mention that the stair treads are real wood but they are so creaky and noisy (and slippery) which is why we are going with carpet.
houssaon
last year
Do you have access to the underside of the steps. You might need to replace some shims. Definitly do a stair runner. A much better look.
Sammie J
last year
I would do a runner - but leave the wood as is.
wdccruise
last year
I'd fix the staircase to eliminate the creakiness, prep the treads as necessary for an an anti-slip floor finish (examples: Floor Grip, Bona), and paint the risers (some color). I'd want to continue to see the treads.

-- amateur

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