| Project by WoodTookSoLong | posted 40 days ago | 547 views | 2 times favorited | 8 comments |  |
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This was one of my first “big” woodworking projects. We moved into our home back in 2005 and did a bunch of renos the week before we moved in. One of the renos was removing the ugly blue carpet that resembled a trampled Grover muppet from Sesame Street after a night of binge drinking. The carpet came out no problem, however I didn’t think of what to do with the stairs until after it was out.
I was installing laminate on the floor at the top of the stairs (couldn’t afford the hardwood) but I knew that it wouldn’t work on stairs very nicely. After thinking about it for a few minutes I thought “Why don’t I just refinish the original wood slabs the builder put in?” So I did.
I don’t think they were supposed to be stair treads, but after I sanded the tops like crazy to get enough of the dents and scratches out and then clear varathaned them with about 6 coats it didn’t look too bad. I added a $7 tile from the Depot with some birch veneer on the sides for my risers and glued them to the back. I also varathaned them until them couldn’t move. They ended up matching the laminate pretty nicely and my wife and I are pleased with the result…especially when you compare it to the “before” shot with my dad posing at the door—no he’s not a Mexican wrestler, just not sure if he wants to be in the limelight :-) Oh, and check out the foil wallpaper the previous owners had…yuck!
-- Ben
8 comments so far
Halfbubblepastplumb
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28 posts in 54 days
posted 40 days ago
Hey WTSL, That looks elegant. Good use of inexpensive materials for a “someone cares” effect.
-- Dave E. "People who are competent are worth the oil it will take to fry them in hell." --Mencken
woodworm
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8135 posts in 482 days
posted 40 days ago
Nicely matched the treads & riser in material and colour. I like the tiles colour/pattern and birch veneer combi.
Great work Ben.
-- masrol, kuala lumpur, MY.
snowdog
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808 posts in 874 days
posted 40 days ago
Yeah , great job. It really looks nice.
-- "so much to learn and so little time"..
Beginningwoodworker
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4098 posts in 565 days
posted 40 days ago
Nice job on the stairway.
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
a1Jim
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16558 posts in 469 days
posted 40 days ago
Another great job Ben.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
Lenny
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125 posts in 419 days
posted 40 days ago
Wow, that was quite an inspiration you had that day. This came out beautifully. As others have said, the color/tone match is right on and the tile adds a brilliant artistic touch. I can’t forget to metion that I laughed out loud at your Grover joke. Too funny! You just better hope the joke never gets to him. He might turn into Super Grover and come after you!
-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!
WoodTookSoLong
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12 posts in 40 days
posted 40 days ago
Thanks, you are all too kind.
Lenny, Super Grover could probably take me down, but my Nacho Libre dad in the last pic has got my back :-)
-- Ben
janice
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294 posts in 317 days
posted 31 days ago
Well, now I know what I’m going to do with my steps at the cabin that go up to our new room addition. I pretty much have the same thing, we just used pine, not actual stair treads either. Thanks for the great idea.
-- Janice