Help with butchered old staircase

[Uggers]

Thanks there has been so much work done that's never seen.
Repairing the ceilings, walls and archways. Stripping and repainting 14 doors. Stripping and repainting 114 balusters, needle gunning 44 stairs. Long and soul destroying, I could never be a full time decorator!

I know I could have just done a light rub down of everything and repainted, and it would have looked better. But this is meant to be our forever home, so best to do it right.

Had a few quotes to do the runners which at around £1k is better than I thought it would be. Especially as they cut and bind the carpet to match 2 half landings. What colour scheme I don't know.

As despite the other half s enthusiasm I feel grey is leading me down a one way road with colours. What would work with grey that isn't grey?

She's not too happy about me wanting oxblood Chesterfield's

[Uggers]

gf15 said:

Fantastic work and Thank you for keeping us updated.

Would the vestibule door originally have had stained glass? Ours was and again was removed in the 70's. We got some second hand and had it modified to fit (not expensive), but very effective and warming.

It's hard to know. I think the door that is fitted, may well have been the original as the hinge mounts do not look to have been changed. But the centre of it gutted to make way for a sheet of glass. This may have been done in the 60's when the property was converted to use as the towns doctors surgery. I'm probably going to go solid georgian style to match existing doors, as the vestibule isn't in great shape (at the moment)

dmsims said:

Greta job but resist the griege

Nice, I am trying my best to stop my house turning monotone! That carpet style may well work thankyou. Did consider stair rods, but not sure if they are a bit of a dust trap? Also the stairs are solid stone, so fastening them is a bit more involved than just screwing into wood. They would really finish them off though!

[Uggers]

The last carpet that was fitted by the previous owners was held in place by gripper which was then bonded using some sort of epoxy adhesive.
Even though it was fitted terribly, it didn't move or cause problems, so may do similar.

I'd have to drill and rawl plug to fasten stair rods in place. Would take a while, but can be the absolute last thing to fit, and I can fit as and when without creating havoc in the house like I usually do

I think there was stair rods fitted previously, as you can see holes full of lead inline on both sides of the steps.

[Uggers]

We are almost finished now.

Still got a lot of plants/pictures/curtains/furniture to add as it does look a bit sparse at the moment. But we will add as and when money allows. It's quite monotone as I was fighting a losing battle for warmer colours with my partner, but 3 or 4 days of painting it can be easily changed in the future.

The runner worked out twice as expensive as planned as decided to go for a much better carpet than planned for the stairs, but with cloud 9 underlay on each step it's so nice to walk up and down the stairs.

The wooden floor I fitted myself and came out about as well as I could hope. There's the odd bit where the joins started to run away from me, but managed to get away with it!

My final lot of pictures...


















Thanks for looking and sorry it took so long!

[Uggers]

Thanks everyone, it has been a slow labour of love. I admit I spent many nights sitting on the steps thinking is this ever going to be finished!

Ace-T said:

You have done a cracking job there Uggers.

I know when we finished our hall it made a massive positive difference to how we felt about the house, hope this has reinforced how lovely and special your house is to you.

We feel that everyday. It makes me feel privileged to walk around and think this is all my own work and how much of a difference it makes to the place. There is always some detail to take your eye, not something we had in our last modern (rather beige) house

CharlesdeGaulle said:

That really is impressive work, well done. I know what you mean about colour, and a house like that allows you to be really bold, but what you have is an elegant foundation until you can convince your wife and sum-up the money/enthusiasm to paint over it!

Great thread, thank you.

I prefer warmer colours, but it seems my other half prefers more clinical, I got my own way with the sofas and the flooring which adds some warmth. But I'm looking forward to mellowing the tones in a few years and like you say there is a good foundation to work from

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Can't believe we've all been falling this thread since 2015-wonderful work OP. I now do this for a business (try doing this to make money!) and I love seeing what others get up to.

I take my hat off to anyone who does this for a job, it has been tough!

The hardest part is probably gathering the motivation to carry on even though all you can see is days and days of sanding/filling/repairing/painting ahead of you!

[Uggers]

dhutch said:

Uggers said:

We are almost finished now.



Thanks for looking and sorry it took so long!

Absolutely fantastic achievement.

New to this thread, but have just read through the five-year project of the stairs. Some people would brand you mad, and to be honest at times I know mad is the only brand I fit, but when you look down and see that it must be very satisfying.

Have you been living in the house throughout the project? Assuming so, even more credit due!


Daniel

It's one of my favourite views, it gives an idea to the scale!

Yes all the work was carried out whilst we lived in the place. This did limit how much I could do at times as the house had to be liveable for the most part. The other half works part time so is around the house a lot and the time between son starting and finishing school is alarmingly short!