A runner completes the stair project.

It felt a little wrong to install a runner over stairs from which I’d stripped carpet and then refinished, but the stairs were a little slippery under foot. I had no desire to install the runner myself, so we spent an afternoon at a local rug and flooring shop looking for something that would suit both the dining room at the foot of the stairs with its deep green walls and sea-green rug and the upstairs with light tan walls. We settled on a tannish vine pattern over a blue-green base in 100% wool. Picking the pattern was the hard part: a few weeks later the installers spent a difficult three hours installing pad and runner, measuring each step to make sure the runner stayed centered on stairs that were inconsistent in width.

After sanding, I applied three coats of Bona Mega using a lambswool applicator.

After the final sanding, I vacuumed and taped the walls, then was ready to apply my topcoat. I chose Bona Mega to match the existing finish and applied the Mega using a 5″ lambswool applicator, following the manufacturer’s directions. It was a surprisingly forgiving process–pour the finish and spread to an even coat with the applicator. So long as the next coat is applied within 48 hours, you don’t need to sand between coats, but I did hand sand with 220 grit before my final coat. Because stairs are high-traffic, I applied four coats over the course of a weekend. While it cured to final hardness, we could consider runner options.

Sanding off the old finish was slow work made more bearable with good dust collection.

Welcoming the excuse for a new tool, I picked up Festool’s DTS 400 REQ to reach areas where my Festool ETS 150/3 wouldn’t reach (aside: the DTS 400 REQ worked well for its intended purpose, but I agree with one reviewer who missed the symmetry of the DX 93: You go through more paper not being able to rotate a sheet on the pad). I began sanding at 60 grit and regretted I didn’t have any 40 grit (or even lower) on hand. I used the ETS 150 as much as possible, then switched over to the DTS 400 to reach into the corners of the treads and risers, working through higher grits to 180. After a weekend of sanding, I vacuumed the freshly-stripped wood and wiped it down with a damp cloth. As a probably-not-necessary step (or act of masochism), I then took a quick pass over the stairs with a card scraper. With one last vacuuming, the stairs were ready for a new top coat.

Carpeting covered the entire stairwell.

After ten years of indoor and outdoor projects, we were left with one last effort that wouldn’t require removing sections of the roof or overhauling basement drainage: refinishing our upper staircase.

The stairs were covered in the same bad carpeting as the downstairs bedrooms when we moved. Unlike with the bedrooms, where we removed carpet and underlying linoleum to reveal the original fir floors, we left the stairs untouched while we worked on the rest of the house. The carpet wasn’t pretty, but it was inoffensive, protected the stairs, and provided sure footing for pets and toddlers. With the summer in full swing and all my contractual obligations fulfilled, it was time to confront the stairs.

I began by thoroughly vacuuming to minimize spreading dust when pulling up the carpet. Then it was simply a matter of finding an edge and bringing a pair of needle nose pliers to bear. The carpeting came up easily, and for the first time in the history of our pulling up floor coverings in the house, it revealed no ugly surprises–no glued down linoleum, no layers of newsprint, no strips of tacked down salvaged tin strips, not even padding or tack strips.

Instead we found worn but serviceable old growth treads and risers with a failing finish, an ideal candidate for refinishing.

The carpet comes up, revealing no ugly surprises.