Easy DIY Stair Remodel (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

Let’s just say I wasn’t a big fan of our old stairs. The beige carpet was totally cramping my aesthetic and I had a hard time keeping them clean with two cats!

But I also wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to rip up the carpet. Am I at the skill level to tackle this project? How do I know if our wood stairs will be in good condition? What if I needed new stair risers or new treads?

You don’t always know what you’ll find when you rip up the old carpet, so it is important to consider that before going into this project. I knew there was a possibility we might have to buy new stair treads. That aside, this is a very easy diy project that makes a huge difference!

By the way, this is part I of our DIY stair remodel. If you’re interested in how I installed the carpet runner, check out part II.

Green walls, beige carpeted stairs with a white and wood stair railing — Here’s a picture of our old stairs from when we first moved in!

Black painted Stairs (Behr Limousine Leather) with a vintage runner — Here’s how they look after the stair remodel!

MATERIALS:

TOOLS:

Gloves
Pry bar
Needle nose pliers
Tape Measure
Utility knife
Crown Stapler
Sander
Jigsaw (optional)
ShopVac
Flexible PVC Adapter

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means, if you purchase something from a link I provided, I will receive a small commission. This is at no extra cost to you! Thank you for your support!

Table of Contents

Step One: Removing the Old Carpet

The first step is ripping up the old carpet and I have to say… that was the best part! Find a corner and just start ripping! It was so satisfying to do and we were pleasantly surprised with what we found underneath. Our existing stairs were beautiful pine treads… we got lucky!

Elisha from Our Aesthetic Abode is pulling the corner up on carpet she's ripping up for her stair remodel

Safety tip: Be sure you wear gloves and safety glasses- there are staples and nails poking out everywhere! It also helps to have a large trash bag nearby to clean as you go.

Piled up carpet, tack strips, and foam pad resting on a stair landing after being removed — Here’s just *some* of the trash we accumulated!

Once you remove the carpet and carpet pad, you’ll see tack strips around the edges. Those are nailed into the floor, so you’ll just need a pry bar to get them up. The staples can be removed with pliers! I kept a little bucket next to me to collect them as I pulled them up.

a pair of needle nose pliers pulling out a staple on a stair tread — This part was also satisfying for me.

Pulling Tack Strips up with a pry bar for a Stair Remodel

Step Two: Prepping the Stairs

The next step is to prepare the stairs for primer and paint. In order to fully understand my tutorial, let me just share this little diagram on simple stair anatomy so you know what I’m referring to:

A picture of stairs with the tread, riser, and stringer (skirt board) labeled

I did run into an unexpected issue…

One thing I noticed right away was how large the gaps were between the treads and the stair stringers. Some of the gaps were as big as ½” so I knew caulk wasn’t going to be a great way to fix these. I had to brainstorm.

A close up look at the bare stairs with a large gap between the stair tread and skirt board — For whatever reason, most of the bigger gaps were on the right side of the stairs.

I knew it wouldn’t hurt to add some backer rod first. If you’ve never used this, it’s great! It’s essentially a foam strip that you shove into the gap to account for some of the space before you start filling the gap…which means you won’t need nearly as much caulk!

Backer rod (a foam strip) being pushed into the gap between the stair tread and the skirt board using a painter's tool. This was after Elisha at Our Aesthetic Abode ripped up the carpet for her staircase makeover. — Backer rod is great option to help fill in gaps. Just use a painter’s tool to push it in.

To fill the gaps, I decided to try out a product called bondo. It smelled awful and it was tricky to work with because it dries very fast, but it did the job! It dries hard like concrete.

I made the mistake of overfilling the gaps, leaving me with excess bondo that I had to chisel away and then sand. Later on, I realized there is a bondo wood filler that I think would have worked better than the bondo all-purpose. Lesson learned!

The corner of a stair tread where there was previously a large gap has been filled with bonds which is a gray, concrete like texture. This was after Elisha at Our Aesthetic Abode ripped up the carpet for her DIY staircase makeover. — Yikes! This photo shows how much I overfilled the bondo. Luckily it chiseled off easily!

Thankfully, there weren’t extreme gaps on all the stairs treads. Most of the gaps on the left side of the stairs were much smaller and could easily be filled with wood putty.

applying wood filler into small gaps in the stair treads using a putty knife after ripping up the carpet for a DIY staircase makeover — Anything gray is bondo, anything tan is wood filler.

What if your wood treads are cracked in areas?

Be sure to check for any cracks or structural problems in the treads. I only noticed one! It was a large crack at the edge of the tread and I just used some wood glue, pressed it back in place, and held it for a minute or two. This worked perfectly!

Gorilla wood glue sitting on the top of a cracked stair tread after a DIY stair Reno — Wood glue saves the day!!

What if you end up needing new stair treads or risers?

If this happens, you can actually purchase new stair treads from Home Depot and you can just cut them to size!

If you need new risers, I’ve seen others use hardboard or plywood to place overtop the existing riser. Just do a little research!

What did you do for the landings?

We have a landing at the top and bottom of the stairs. I decided to go a little unconventional here and use beadboard to cover it up. (Beadboard wouldn’t be used for for standard flooring.) I love the character this adds to the stairs.

Stair landing with beadboard cut to size during a DIY staircase makeover — This is the bottom landing, but I did the same thing for the top!

All I did here was cut the beadboard to size using a jigsaw, I used my brad nailer to secure it to the landing, and I caulked the edges and seams as needed.

Elisha from Our Aesthetic Abode is using a nail gun to install headboard at the landing of the stairs for her DIY staircase makeover — I nailed the beadboard along the edges, at the seam, and some scattered throughout the middle.

However, it is important to note that the beadboard raised the landing a little. As a result, I needed new stair nosing. This was very simple to install- I just cut it to size with my miter saw, and attached it with brad nails!

Stair nosing at the landing of stairs with beadboard on top, and a scrap piece of a new landing fitted over top to test out the size before install. This is part of Elisha at Our Aesthetic Abode's DIY staircase makeover. — See how nice and snug this fit? The color didn’t matter since I’ll be painting it all black anyway!

A Ragdoll cat laying on the upstairs of landing of a set of pine tread stairs in the middle of a DIY staircase Reno — This is Gouda hanging at the top of the stairs. You can see where I added the stair nosing here too!

Sanding was the part I was dreading most.

The idea of sanding the stairs was totally stressing me out. I’m not a fan of sanding inside and getting dust everywhere. This is the COOLEST hack for dust-free sanding.

If you have a shop vac and a mouse or orbital sander, all you need is a flexible PVC adapter! This allows you to tighten the adapter and connect the two. This is truly life changing and has come in handy for many other indoor projects. I sanded these stairs down and there was no dust!

Shop vac attached to a mouse sander using a flexible PVC adapter — The size of the adapter will depend on your tools, but this one worked for mine.

Taping the stairs

Since I decided I’m painting all the stair parts, the taping wasn’t too tricky! I just ran it up along the stair stringers.

If you’re planning to use a wood stain for the treads, or you don’t want to paint the stair stringers, you’ll have to tape accordingly!

Step Three: Priming the Stairs

Stripped stairs with a can of BIN primer in the middle. Painter's tape is above the skirt board and goes all the way up the stairs — This is where it starts to get fun!

Now we’re ready to prime the stairs! You can see I taped above the skirt board since I decided to paint that part black as well. This is the shellac-based primer I used. It’s incredibly durable and does a great job of priming anything in a high-traffic area.

Helpful tip: You can ask the paint department at Home Depot to tint your primer with gray if you’re using a dark paint color. That’s what I did which is why it looks like gray paint!

Stair railing and banister primed and ready for paint

Did you paint the newel post?

I decided to paint the newel post because I thought it would look great black! Again- personal preference! I did two coats of primer.

In between coats I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper, vacuumed, and wiped the stairs down with a damp rag. After the second coat, I caulked the seams on the risers using paintable caulk! Once the caulk dried, I sanded, vacuumed, and wiped the stairs so I could prep for paint.

Stair landing in the midst of being painted black for a DIY staircase makeover — I love seeing the lines from the beadboard with the lines of the fluted wall in my office.

Step Four: Painting the Stairs

What type of paint and paint color did you use?

For paint, I used this porch and patio paint on all of the stair parts- including the newel post and baluster. It’s held up really nicely this past year so I feel confident in recommending it!

The paint color I used is Limousine Leather by Behr paint. It’s my go to black paint because it has such a rich, sleek look!

I applied the paint with a small 3/8″ nap roller for most of the stairs. A small angled brush was needed on some of the balusters.

Freshly painted black stairs with a beadboard landing — I avoided painting the middle of the stairs since I knew the runner would cover it anyway. Plus, it allowed us a space to walk while the paint was drying.

How many coats did you do?

Two coats of paint provided great coverage. In between coats I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper, vacuumed, and wiped down the stairs. I know the sanding in between is extra work, but it results in a smooth, professional, finished look. It’s totally worth the extra steps in my opinion!

Step Five: Sealing the Stairs

I do recommend using a poly finish to seal the stairs. Initially I didn’t, but I noticed after a month or two there were some chips in the paint on the beadboard landing specifically. This gave me the push I needed to seal them!

Before sealing, make sure to test out a small hidden area first. The poly can change the look of the paint! I applied two coats of this water-based Polycrylic using a foam brush and it worked perfectly. They paint has help up really well since then!

black painted stairs with a multi-color runner going up the middle. A gray and white cat sit on the stairs — Gouda and Zitto approve of the new stairs!

I can’t tell you how much we love our new stairs! It’s made such a huge impact on our home. I hope this step-by-step tutorial was helpful and maybe even gave you the confidence to start your own DIY stair remodel!!

Don’t forget to check out my DIY Stair Runner blog post if you’re interested in how to install a stair runner. Additionally, if you haven’t already, you can watch all of my videos on this stair remodel in my IG highlight called “Stairs”.

Thank you so much for being here and please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions!

Elisha <3