It was hate at first sight. The shaggy brown carpet that covered our staircase and the top of the landing reminded me of a dirty mop. It had to go. But when I got a quote for a chic aqua wool replacement, it was over $3,000. My husband and I had previously sanded and applied stain to furniture, so we thought sprucing up some wood steps couldn’t be that tricky.
Pulling up the carpet was the easy part and we were happy to see the original hardwood. Score! The glaring issues: the landing was covered with paint splatters and the boards were different from the wood on the staircase. We decided to rent a professional-grade edger (a drum sander was too large for this space) and get to work. That’s when things got interesting.
The thing with this type of project is that it’s hard to catch the faux pas early on. A freshly sanded floor is going to look pretty good at first, but it’s when you apply the stain that the mistakes shine. It took us about 50 hours and $600 to refinish our hardwood steps and landing. Here’s what I learned along the way, so you won’t have to repeat my mistakes.
Mistake #1: Keeping the railings on the stairs
I wouldn’t be surprised if the railing is original to our 1938 house. Given that we had no prior experience installing railings, and have two elementary-school kids in the house, we didn’t want to risk removing the baluster. Plus, we assumed it couldn’t be too hard to sand around the posts, right? Wrong. We probably spent twice as long trying to get an even finish. Hand sanding, using a low grit paper, was not enough to lift the original varnish. Even the small mouse sander didn’t fit and the detail sanding tool is definitely not for a novice (see Mistake #7).”Lesson learned: go the extra mile to take down the banister and baluster to get a professional, smooth finish across each tread (the flat part of the step).
Mistake #2: Not covering all the walls with plastic
When sanding is involved, you know you’re getting dirty—but so is everything else in your house. We learned during our previous reno to cover up any nearby doors in sheets of plastic to keep the dust from getting on the clothes in our closets, but it turns out you need to cover every single surface in the surrounding area. The dust settled on everything from dining room baseboards to the piano in the adjacent room—it was sneaky. If you touched the walls directly near the steps and landing, you’d see finger streaks. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning everything up with my Bona extendable duster, which tackled the mess high up on the walls. Oh, and make sure to wrap light fixtures in a trash bag to keep the sanding particles from getting into crevices.
Mistake #3: Using the wrong wood filler for gaps
Since I already had Minwax Stainable Wood Filler on hand from when we filled holes in the sunroom wood paneling, I thought it would be just fine to fill the carpet staple gaps and the cracks between the riser and the tread. Turns out, it wasn’t the best option for areas that are really tight. This wood filler is very grainy, dries hard, and is tough to smooth out without hitting the riser part of the step over and over again. Once I ran out, I switched to Ace’s natural wood filler and it was much easier to work with. Bonus: I could even wipe it down to minimize dust.
Mistake #4: Not testing the stain beforehand and going too dark
While DuraSeal has a stain gallery on its site, there isn’t an option to order small sample containers. That meant, we had to guess as best we could which option matched the rest of our home’s floor boards. Rather than testing the color on a small area first, we just decided to go for it using the brand’s Antique Brown. That first application was a moment of, “Crap! I guess we can’t go back now.”
Like paint, stains can look a little different depending on the natural and artificial light that’s hitting it, and even the time of day. But the trickier thing with stain is that there is a variegated hue that changes with the wood grain. Some planks come out especially dark. After seeing how rich Antique Brown turned out, we realized we should have erred on the side of caution with a shade like Chestnut. Because if you go lighter, you can always apply multiple coats to enhance the color. At the end of the day, we grew to like the rich chocolate floors, but it took at least a week to feel good about it.
Mistake #5: Applying too much stain
Overall, applying stain is simple. Brush it on (or use an old t-shirt) and wipe away the excess. Since we couldn’t remove the original varnish in certain areas, the new stain would not absorb, leaving splotchy spots. Thinking that we could just apply more product was not the solution—it looked like we spilled soy sauce all over our stairs. The only fix was to re-sand these areas for a second attempt at the stain.
Mistake #6: Using the orbital sander to “fix” mistakes
In taking a second, and sometimes third, pass at a problem area, I opted for a hand-held orbital sander. Generally, it worked ok, but several spots ended up with half-moon streaks from uneven hand pressure. The trouble is that you won’t know this until you apply the stain and then it is too late. I used 80-grit sandpaper, but looking back, I think a coarser 60-grit sandpaper would have taken off the stain faster and I wouldn’t have felt the need to push down so hard.
The dreaded splotches between the balusters drove me nuts and I was determined to get rid of them. After some research, I found a detailing file sander which seemed to be the solution to my problem—until I actually started using it. Here, again, you need a gentle touch and I was just not skillful enough to maneuver it. I ended up creating divots in the tread that irks me every time I see the imperfections. But at least the steps are evenly stained.
Mistake #8: Painting the risers before applying the stain
After working hard to get the steps sanded, I didn’t want to risk ruining them with paint drips, so I painted the risers before applying the stain. Unfortunately, even my careful application ended up leaving some smears and splatters. And, I had to touch up the risers.
Mistake #9: Trusting my cat
My cat, Silver, sleeps most of the day and I wasn’t worried about him getting in the way. But the day I was applying the second coat of the floor finish, was the day he decided to trot upstairs, leaving behind a trial of footprints. Luckily, this happened while the finish was still wet enough that I could fix it with my roller. But I quite literally had to pirouette to do so.
