Home improvement a-go-go

[melaniesuzanne]

I frightened Hubbyfink with all sorts of wild ideas about home improvements yesterday. There were quick calls and voicemails throughout the day consisting of "Oh! We could do this!" and "Ooh. We need to check this first, though." His coworkers concluded that I must be very bored at work. Not really; I'm simply putting off the work I don't want to

Comments

[melaniesuzanne]

I figured we could do this ourselves. I want to replace the carpets in the bedroom, and probably on the top landing, but I don't want the carpet on the stairs anymore. I thought we could cut the carpet just underneath the landing and staple that bit underneath the landing. We rip up the carpet, rip out the tack strips, patch holes on the risers and paint them a glossy white. We install oak treads with a little glue, some nails and a touch of wood filler here and there. Bada boom, bada bang: new stairs!

Scott thinks it'll be a harder process. I'm just going with my gut; I haven't researched yet to see how difficult this will all be. He's talked me into saving this for cold weather and we'll paint while it's nice enough to have all the windows open.

[shalmestere]

I don't want the carpet on the stairs anymore.

How will the kitties handle that? I didn't want carpeted stairs, either, so we had the stairs refinished at the same time as the downstairs floors. Unfortunately, the Original Things couldn't cope with bare stairs (after slipping and falling a few times, Original Thing One stopped trying and would just stand at the bottom of the stairs and cry :-(), so we ended up installing a cheap expendable runner on the stairs and upstairs hallway.

[melaniesuzanne]

They should be okay, especially since they can retract their claws and use the toe pads for traction. If not, we'll put a runner down.

[greta_k]

You'll need to install or replace the toe molding along your baseboards or you'll have exposed edges. And don't forget your nosing!

Your Hubbyfink is right - it IS going to be a little more work than you described, but it's not insurmountable.