A test of patience - Refinish your old stairs!

If you're like me, you love old houses.  When you look at one to purchase, you look past all of the work that it needs because it speaks to you.  You know you can renovate beautifully without skipping a beat.  You have vision.

What you forget about at the time, is the work involved; sore shoulders, pulled muscles and bruises.  And the dirt.  The never-ending dirt and dust.  But we persevere with a smile because we love it.

When we were first married thirty-four years ago, we rented a floor sander and re-finished the floors in our apartment.  Someone had put masking tape around the edges of all of the rooms many years earlier.  Hundreds (or so it seemed) of sanding belts later, the floors were finished.  The paint was gone.  A coat or two of polyurethane and they shone like the moon.  Not so difficult when you're 22 years old!

Several years later, we bought our first house. We were so adept at refinishing our floors that we tried our skills on the furniture.  It was the early 80's and everyone seemed to be using stripper made by Red Devil.  What we didn't know at the time was that the ingredients found in the stripper were harmful.

When I began the stair project, I looked all over for Red Devil to no avail.  I ended up with a product made by  Klean Strip.  Still harmful, smelly and dangerous, but apparently less so than what we used long ago.
Armed with my scraper and breathing mask, I began to remove 170 years of paint!

For some reason, I was able to look past the crumbling wallpaper and many years of dirt and grime.  The front door had been sealed shut with a sheet of plywood.  The lace curtains on the sidelights were turning to dust in my fingertips.  Still, I loved this hallway.

The day we closed on the house, we couldn't get the plywood off the front door fast enough!  Fresh air does wonders for the soul.

After washing and priming EVERYTHING in the house, we had the floors refinished.  After that, I knew we had made the right decision to purchase this house.  A bright coat of paint on the front door made everything OK (although I wonder....why didn't we have them refinish the stairs???).

The stairs had been covered in a 1980 shade of "colonial" blue.  A stair runner was stapled down.  We couldn't wait to pull it off, throw it in the dumpster then prime!

Do you notice a theme?  After I painted the front door I kept going up the stairs!  I wasn't sure that I loved the blue stairs enough to keep, but they hid the dirt well!

After a few weeks of painting, I decided that the blue had to go.  You can see that when I finally stripped the stairs, several layers of paint were my own fault.

It's important to have the correct tools when tackling a project like this.  In addition, you'll need a breathing mask, paint scraper, paint brush and several clean rags.

Wearing your rubber gloves, "paint" on the stripper.  Let sit according to directions on the can.  Make sure your room is properly ventilated; open the windows!

170 years of paint begin to bubble up.  Now it's time to scrape!

I was thrilled when I began to see the wood grain!  There were several different colors of paint including red and green.

The stairs are wiped with mineral spirits after stripper is used.

I set a goal for myself of three stairs per day.  Patience is a must for this project.

Once I had decided that they were stripped to my liking, I gave the stairs a light sand.  I loved the detail that was emerging.

Messy?  Yes, but worth it.

I had decided from the beginning, that these stairs would never look brand new due to their age.  Stairs were wiped with a tack cloth before beginning with polyurethane. 

I chose a polyeurethane with a light stain in it in order to get close to the floor color.  The first coat is on; time to go antiquing!  Six hours to dry time.

Another coat....

.....and a third coat!  These stairs get a lot of use.

Several of the stair balusters were missing.  We cut them from dowel we bought at the local hardware store.  Hanging them outside seemed the only logical solution to getting paint on evenly.

The backs of the steps are painted and the balusters are reassembled. 

We are very happy with the results.  The stained polyurethane is a wonderful match to the floor color.

The cat realizes that the missing balusters were replaced; she can no longer fit through the opening!

I love to think of everyone who has touched that newel post on the way up or down these stairs.

Halfway Down

by A.A. Milne

Halfway down the stairs

is a stair

where I sit.

There isn't any

other stair

quite like

it.

i'm not at the bottom,

i'm not at the top;

so this is the stair

where 

I always 

stop.

Halfway up the stairs

isn't up

and it isn't down.

It isn't in the nursery,

it isn't in town.

And all sorts of funny thoughts

Run round my head.

It isn't really

Anywhere!

It's somewhere else

Instead!

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead! - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/Halfway-Down#sthash.vI43jSzH.dpuf

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead! - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/Halfway-Down#sthash.vI43jSzH.dpuf

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And it isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead! - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/Halfway-Down#sthash.vI43jSzH.dpuf