How to Remove Carpet and Paint Your Stairs
When my budget ran out, I needed an inexpensive way to spruce up my stairs that were sadly covered with 20+year old carpet. I ripped up the carpet, prepped the stairs and painted for a fresh new look.
This is the fresh new look after I removed the old carpet. Want to see the before picturs?
The carpets were worn and dingy and damaged. With a new front door and a recently renovated entryway, I needed a fresh new look on the steps. My house is a ranch with a spit entry so there were 2 sets of 7 steps.
Ripping up the carpets is pretty easy in theory. You simply start tugging away and the carpet pulls up relatively easily. The hard work come into play once the carpet is up. My helper thought this part was interesting and easy!
You might have to use a scraper to get some of the padding off of the steps. Then comes the most time consuming part of the process...removing each and every piece of carpet tack strip, each and every staple, and each and every tack or nail.
These tools will be your friends along with a small crow bar and a hammer.
Notice all of the space between the edge of each step and the wall. I filled these cracks with Great Stuff and then used caulk to finish the seams.
There was sanding and filling of holes. And more sanding. But finally it was time to paint. I actually used stain on the treads and paint on the risers.
I started out using the blue tape that I had on hand. After many a bleed through, I switched to Frogtape for a more crisp and clean line.
Here are the lower stairs.
I'm very happy with the transformation! It was an inexpensive project but a high intensity project!
Resources for this project:
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Comments
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There is also an option of using a pattern or mural vinyl wallpaper made especially for the application on risers .
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Yes! I did look at these! I would probably stencil to keep cost down.
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Hi. I did a similar project in first lockdown. We have not found any negatives to this and the benefits are:
- steps are deeper as no carpet
- can vacuum together to bottom in 3 mins
- no increase in slipperiness but we do wear slippers
- no obvious noise increase, house has two teenagers
- love the finished look
as you say...HIGH intensity...you really have to want to do this...I felt like I was welded to the sander for ever.
hope this helps
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Great comments! Thanks for adding so much to the conversation!!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
I’ve been thinking about doing this too, but have been concerned that they will be slippery. Has this been a problem for you?
What kind of Great Stuff did you use? There's different kinds with different uses listed on Amazon. Which was your choice? Thanks for posting. Happy holidays!
Any suggestions for stair treads that are particle board, without replacing them?
19 steps can get very expensive!