Facelifting carpeted "construction stairs"? (new title, old thread)

[patandchickens]

I agree, any filler you put in there will be pretty obvious *and* not stay long. I second Bee's suggestion of using more than one color. If you don't want *severely* contrasting colors, maybe just mix a little black or other dark color into a small dab of your paint, to paint the plywood 'end grain' a slightly darker tint, like a grout line would look. Or something like that. Don't try to *hide* it, just *distract* from it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Old Sew'n'Sew]

I would go with Bee's suggestion.

DH tried that on my bedrooms upstairs and all I get done sometimes is sweeping up the chunks of plaster stuff from these "fixes".

We have (abandoned coal mine) subsidence and there is no level place in my entire house, and we have tried every means of compensation that we can think of, to our crooked floors.

I think there is a saying in the Bible? "what is crooked cannot be made straight."

I now decorate!

 

[xpc]

You could give a try at the "forever floor" and since you got the house for almost nothing you have nothing to lose.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/lee92.html

 

[lupinfarm]

Mitre saw is TOTALLY worth it. I could use one of those by the time I was 10 years old XD I was raised with power tools by my MUM. You should go into home depot into the stock trim section and see if you can find some sort of flat trim to double or triple up and nail into there (glue and nail if you can) to even it out. You may be lucky and find something to fit pretty good and then fill the rest with wood filler.

And as for painting, have you looked into what victorians did when they couldn't afford fancy floor coverings? They PAINTED them on. Rugs and runners were painted in the less well-off families houses. They looked great and realistic but required no maintenance.

As a girl, self sufficieny includes being able to repair things, do electrical, plumbing and use powertools. Both my brother and I were taught to do all these things and more.

 

[xpc]

I bought one similar to this from Fred's (mid south only) for only $59, it works great for all trim. I have done every piece of floor trim, window casing, and door jambs in the entire house from scratch with this machine. Its also quick and easy to cut any other lumber like 2x4 and 4x4. You can cut 1x12s by turning the board over and cutting from the other side.

You should post a picture of your existing stair trim for other worldly advice, just remember even though these saws aren't quite as dangerous as pressure canning I would still recommend keeping your fingers out of the shiny spinning parts.

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-compound-miter-saw-91995.html

 

[big brown horse]

You could give a try at the "forever floor" and since you got the house for almost nothing you have nothing to lose.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/lee92.html

Oh yeah, I forgot about the forever floor. I think NoobieCL started a thread on that last summer.

That is a nice miter saw too. Dual purpose and all...I like that. That helps me justify parting with my money.

There is no trim on the stairs yet. I need to miter the edges of the 1/4 round first.

 

[xpc]

There is no trim on the stairs yet. I need to miter the edges of the 1/4 round first.

You should still post a picture - backer rod and caulk could be your friend in this case - very cheap and very easy.

 

[big brown horse]

Ok, here is a photo of the top stair. It is about 1/2 inch shorter than the actual floor and each step is about 1/2 inch away from the wall.

eta: the top stair is somewhat closer to the wall than all the rest of the stairs, the rest of the stairs are about 1/2 inch away.

 

[xpc]

Backer rod is just a long foam dowel to stuff in the cracks before caulking so as not to need too much. After painting stuff and caulk one stair tread at a time, take an empty spray bottle and fill with a dollop of dish soap and water.

Lay the bead of caulk and lightly spray with soapy water then take a popsicle stick or cut the plastic of a milk jug in the same shape and as wide as you need it and in one fell swoop wipe the caulk towards you into a perfect chamfer. Keep plenty of rags handy to wipe the stick clean then on to the next tread.

You will probably need to use your finger to go around the bull nose but it should turn out pretty good as long as you keep a soapy finger. Also any low profile threshold should work on the top to transition going from vinyl to wood.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_96256-1410-...__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=backer rod$y=9$x=24

 

[patandchickens]

The best-looking solution would be to cut some new plywood to EXACTLY fit the treads (all the way over to the wall) (e.t.a. - I mean add it on top of what's already there); then add quarter-round molding to the vertical parts on the sides, to cover the gaps.

This would also decrease that discrepancy in floor level right near the top of the stairs, which seems like a bit of a hazard.

If OTOH you use backer rod and caulk, make sure it is PAINTABLE caulk, and put only a fairly thin layer of it over the backer-rod-filled-gap, not a huge toothpaste-diameter booger of it (which will tend to move and pop out in time, whereas a thinnish layer stays put and intact better, somewhat counterintuitively)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat