Under $100 Carpeted Stair To
Wooden Tread Makeover DIY
contributed by Cleverly Inspired
Hey there! Do you have a staircase that could use some help? Sure, new carpet would be great, but, wow!, it’s not cheap. And carpet on stairs gets so many stains and wears out so quickly! Find the answer to your problems here with this tutorial from Tracie at Cleverly Inspired. Transforming your stairs from carpet to wood treads will be a project to be proud of and you’ll be so glad you did!
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Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover: Phase 1
For about a year I have been thinking about redoing our stairs. Should I?Can I? Would I dare? Rip up carpet??
I just don’t know. It would be the largest project I have ever done. The hubs was completely behind me.” you can totally do that. It is just carpet. If the wood is bad we will deal with it. Go for it!”
So I did. And here is how it went down…. By the way, thanks for the support. It sure does make a girl feel good!!
Tools needed for ripping the carpet….
Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover Phase 2
The project continues with a day of sanding and scraping up the paint and caulk that was on the stairs.
Carpeted Stair To Wooden Tread Makeover Phase 3
Putter has lost all patience with me by this point. Poor dog…if he could talk, he would be saying “could you please just put back the carpet and end this nonsense woman…” oh no….no carpet for you!
After stairs were all cleaned up good, I could start painting. I primed the risers with a white primer.
Then I painted the treads with the brown. We loved the color Behr Sweet Molasses, it is a true chocolate color–rich and warm and has lots of character. I bought a quart of eggshell finish.
If you haven’t seen the first few post on these stairs you can read all about it here….Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 …..
They look great ! I’m thinking on trying this at my house but my concern is with the steps being slippery. Any issues with that?
Hello! I am researching redoing my stairs also. My carpet is already off. My dilemma is do I need to buy new treads for the stairs. I’ve read a lot and several recommend to put those over the existing stairs. I really would prefer to stain or paint the existing ones but I don’t know if they would be enough support for the stairs. Was your wood just the box wood the house was built with?
I love this. Just tore down wall under staircase, making doggy room. Then tearing out carpet on stairs..cant wait.
What a fun project! Send us pictures when you’re done!
Hi! I wanted to know how the stairs are holding up? We have 3 kids and 3 dogs with high traffic stairs but I’m so sick of our carpet and need a cheap alternative and no carpet and this looked perfect!! Just want to know if it holds up well?!?
This is great, we are looking at buying a house that still has the carpet from the 70’s. Yikes, orange and greens in the main stairway that lead up to the house or down to the basement from the main entrance. So I would be doing some serious upgrading. Thankfully the cost of the house is less because of the upgrading it needs. Thanks for the picture play by play, it was helpful.
This looks amazing!! I’m so encouraged to try to do it myself .
Thanks so much! So rare to find “the whole show” in excellent detail in excellent English in one place! Now I know what will be necessary to budget for time and energy, not to mention money, and can move on further with Phase Zero — all that planning stuff!
I am a little confused. You say in the aricle you used 2 coats of Behr Sweet Mollases paint in eggshell on the treads and then right under that you have a picture of Valpars paint that you say used on the treads. Please clarify.
Thank you
hi!!! How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This is a FABULOUS tutorial and I’m gaining more confidence for this project!
I need the answer to this question too lol
you’re so lucky! We ripped off our carpet prepared to do this and they screwed our stairs in so terribly, they’re all cockeyed with the screw heads sticking up at a diagonal! 🙄
That’s what I’m worried about. If our electric wiring is any indication of how the rest of the house was assembled, I’m afraid to discover what’s under the carpeting.
Love, love the stairs. My issue is that I have floating stairs. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Send a photo to [email protected] we would love to see what you have.
Love what you did and appreciate the details and pics however, I’m bummed that you do not see fit to reply to anyones questions. Seems neglectful. ☹️
Glad you love it. We do our best with the questions. Sometimes it takes time.
Please share what you did at the very top step to transition to other flooring
I am just seeing this fabulous reno today. It looks beautiful! It’s been a few years, how has it held up?
How did you handle the TOP of the stairs where the carpet probably continues to the bedrooms/hallway? This question was previously asked, but there wasn’t a reply. There are quite a number of folks that would like to know how you finished off the top of the stairs.
Hello, for the question around finishing carpet at the top of the stairs, they mentioned in their “how to” and showed a photo of how they left the carpet at the top of the stairs, the last step, folded down on the riser and used a sharp blade to cut the carpet on the top riser. It appears they left a two inch overhang of carpet on the top riser. I hope this helps. It does look great.
I loved this post! Thank you for sharing your process ❤️ I feel so inspired!