Refinishing Your Stairs: Four Important Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Starting!
Carpeted stairs have fallen out of fashion lately. What's hot these days is hardwood - beautiful, oak, cherry, maple, walnut, or mahogany. Making the switch from carpet to wood, could have some pitfalls.
Maybe you've pulled the old carpet off your stairs and are thinking about refinishing the wood underneath. This seems like a simple, straight-forward solution, but there are a few things you should know first. Here are four questions you'll want to ask yourself to make sure refinishing is a good choice for you:
Question 1: How tolerant are you to chaos?
Refinishing a staircase is a big, messy job - stripping off the old varnish; running the sander for hours with dust flying everywhere; applying several coats of the new varnish and letting them dry; hoping the varnish goes on evenly, waiting at least 48 hours for the final coat to dry completely; and finally - cleaning up the dust that settled throughout the house during the process.
Stair refinishing will also disrupt life as you know it in your home - even if you hire someone else to do the work for you. there will be several days when you won;t be able to use the stairs at all. You'll have to hope you don't forget to bring everything down from the bedrooms that you are going to need. and don't forget the air mattresses since most likely you' ll be sleeping on the floor.
If you're determined to refinish, there is a way to keep the stairs in use throughout the staining and varnishing process, although it will double the total time. All you have to do is apply the coats of stain and varnish to every other step, let it dry completely (48 hrs.), and then do the remaining stairs. Of course, this will only work if all members of the household are capable of going up and down the steps two at a time.
Question 2. What kind of wood are your stairs made of?
You might be lucky and discover a hardwood like oak or maple under the old carpet. If it turns out to be a softer wood like pine, you'll want to think twice about refinishing - a soft wood is not going to hold up well under the kinf of traffic your stairway gets. If you're not sure what kind of wood you have, try digging your fingernail into it. If it makes a dent, it's not a good candidate for refinishing.
Question 3. Are you a passionate do-it-yourselfer?
If you are, and if you have a lot of free time, and a very patient family, then this might be the challenging and satisfying project for you. If not, it's best to admit it upfront and hire someone to refinish your stairs for you. Of course this means that you will basically be paying someone's salary for a week or more. And you'll still be stuck with the mess and inconvenience.
Question 4. When your stairs are unusable for several days, will your family still have access to a full bathroom?
This should be obvious, but it's suprising how many people don't think of it.
Is there another solution? YES... Stair ReFacing!
We've painted a very bleak, but realistic picture of the stair refinishing process. Fortunately, you have another option - short of ripping out your existing stairs and starting all over - it's called Stair Refacing!
OurvReFacing process, step-by-step:
Step 1. When Lomonaco's Iron Concepts re-faces your stairway, we bigin by taking accurate measurements of your treads and risers. If any of the steps are curved, we make exact templates ( patterns ) for them. With over 35 years experience in the stair industry, odd shapes and sizes are no problem for us.
Step 2. You select your favorite look from four of the most popular hardwoods - oak, maple, cherry, walnut - and five different stain tones. For the risers, you can either match your treads, or have them painted white. this gives you a choice of forty different finish combinations for your new wood stairs!
Step 3. We have your treads and risers custom-built to fit perfectly. Each component can be pre-finished to your specifications which means you won't have to wait for stain and varnish to dry while making your stairs unusable.
Step 4. Once your components are completed, we install them over your existing stairs. the "nose" of each old tread ( the part that sticks out ) is carefully removed to allow for a perfect fit. Having Lomonaco's Iron Concepts' expert crafsman install your new stairs for you guarantees your complete satisfaction with the results.
In summary, Lomonaco's Iron Concepts' stair Re-Facing means:
No mess
No disruption
Lots more options
Lasting value
The assurance that your job is being done correctly with the best craftmanship in the tri-state area.
Call Today! 856-740-1071 or visit us on the web at:
http://www.lomonacosironconcepts.com/
John Lomonaco - President
