The Good News and The Bad News

Hello friends!

The title of this post pretty much sums things up around here, so let’s get to it.

The Good News
My second attempt at getting a “flooring guy” to come to our house and measure for hardwood floors was successful!  He came over here last night, and I should be getting details back from him in the next day or so.

The Bad News
In speaking to him in the store, he gave me a ballpark estimate for redoing our stairs (removing carpet, installing hardwood treads).  The estimate?  $2600.  Say WHAT?  Now, I really had no idea what is a “reasonable” price for this work, but that doesn’t seem reasonable.  Granted, I don’t think we’re going to have him do the work, but still.  $2600?  For the stairs alone? 

I know a lot of you have tackled this project on your own – I’m anxious to hear your tips, input and cost advice on redoing stairs.  FYI – We do need to get new treads, as the ones under the carpet aren’t stainable.

The Good News
In being stood up by my first flooring guy, and going to this other place, I found some other GORGEOUS hardwood floors that I like way better than the first samples I showed you.  Really, it’s kind of the Goldilocks Effect.

Sample #1 – Beautiful, but too dark

Sample #2 – Too red

Sample #3 – Just right!

 I’m in love with these floors, and they are just the look I’ve been searching for.  They’re a distressed 4 3/4″ solid maple hardwood, stained in a color called Brown Sugar.

Here you can see all three samples, side by side (my “just right” color is on the far left):

The other good thing, is that these floors will blend well with some of the stained trim we have in our home – like our bannister to the downstairs.  Not a great photo of it, but you get the gist.

I’m still debating on how to handle the office hardwoods, and am getting that priced out to replace as well.  Hoping I don’t choke on the estimates when they come in.

On another note –

The Bad News
I worked all day yesterday, (through lunch, which, as you know makes me crazy), and then got up at 4 AM this morning to work some more.  I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say, my eyes feel like they’re humming from so much screen time.

The Good News
We had some big thunderstorms last night, and I found myself going out on the covered porch to just listen to the rain and decompress.  Love that.

Looking forward to hearing your staircase ideas and wishing you a wonderful day!

Don’t forget to check out and/or link up to this month’s Room Evolution Party!

13 Comments

  • Reply
    Cassie @ Primitive & Proper
    May 2, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    i want to come have a cup of tea with you on your porch and listen to the storms! i love storms and that is the perfect space to listen….

  • Reply
    Calypso In The Country
    May 2, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    I love the color of the hardwoods you chose! I really wish I had a covered porch…it's pouring right now and all I have is a rain covered deck! Oh well…hope all your bad news becomes good news. Enjoy your day!
    -Shelley

  • Reply
    Lisa Scibilia
    May 2, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Ouch on the estimate. You can totally remove the carpet yourself – it's a hideous job but not hard – just tedious removing all the staples. I did in a couple of hours. Installing new treads is kind of a big job because the bannister and spindles have to be removed first – maybe it won't be so bad to have them installed if you remove the carpet yourself?? Although considering you're working around the clock maybe it would be worth every penny to pay someone to do it!!

  • Reply
    Courtenay@Creek Line House
    May 2, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    $2600??? That's scary! I need to do my stairs too.. Good luck on your exciting hardwood adventure!

  • Reply
    oldhousesrock
    May 2, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Yep, stairs are pricey!

  • Reply
    Kristin
    May 2, 2012 at 4:59 pm

    Ouch. Those stairs are sooo expensive to replace! As we have a one-floor house, I have no suggestions for you :-(. But I must say, I LOVE your "just right" hardwood. So beautiful!

  • Reply
    Kristel
    May 2, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    I'm with Lisa, you may just want to hire someone out for this, although I have also seen beautiful stairs done the DIY way, I think you should get a few more quotes, and see how it is. Good luck.

  • Reply
    Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.
    May 3, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    I really like the colour of the floors you picked. They're going to look so good!!! And the name sounds delicious…. 🙂

  • Reply
    Alicia
    May 3, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    So we did our staircase completely ourselves. You can take out the carpet yourself. That's not hard at all. Solid treads(no carpet in the middle) start at around $20 a tread unfinished. Probably changes a little by area. They go up in price depending on the wood they are made of (or supposed to look like)& completely finished. You can also install them yourself. They are not hard to do. They are just nailed down. You have the choice of getting a whole new tread (step) or a faux tread to cover the existing plywood. I would recommend just getting a new tread. Now you do have to remove ALL of your stair parts to do this. And then drill & screw them all back into the new wood treads. We also did all of this. It's a Pain to do. A HUGE PAIN. You have to be VERY accurate in your drilling & spacing. So if you are up to the DIY you could install the treads yourself & then have a staircase installer come & reinstall your railing. It is pricy either way. Frustrating too. if you have any ?'s I might be able to help. Hope that is somewhat helpful! 🙂

    • Reply
      Jenny
      May 5, 2012 at 1:52 pm

      Thank you for your comment! It was very timely, as I about choked on the quote for the stairs! Definitely going to be doing some price comparisons and research on this one!

  • Reply
    Kristin @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
    May 7, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    Hi Jenny-
    Send me an e-mail and I'll give you our price. You could save on doing the prep yourself by ripping up the carpet, nails…etc….
    The reason it is so expensive is becuase of all the cuts they have to make and the bullnose and the glue. Seems like it should be easy but it can be hard. Our friends installed all of their hardwood by themselves and when it came down to the stairs they hired out. 🙂 Love the color you picked.
    XO
    Kristin

  • Reply
    Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style
    May 8, 2012 at 4:52 am

    Hey Jenny-
    We redid our stairs ourselves….I won't try to rehash it here….but you can find the details on my blog…. http://www.engineeringlifeandstyle.blogspot.com

    It was a lot of work, but totally worth it!!

    Let me know if you have any questions 🙂

    Kristal

  • Reply
    Quincy
    May 9, 2012 at 5:13 am

    Hi, we are currently in process of renovating a recently purchased home. The stairs were the easiest thing we've done. I cannot imagine spending $2600 on such a simple project. The most challenging aspects: matching stain with new flooring, and measuring and re-installing spindles. As someone mentioned above treads seem to be priced from $20-$40 each, depending on length and how many sides require bullnose edge. Definitely a doable slightly advanced DIY project, just depends on your time versuses money equation 🙂

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