bridgerton stairs pt. I: Removing carpet
in a 100 year old house, there are surprises around every corner.
unsure of what we’d find under the purply-brown, rough staircase carpeting, we waited a couple years as we painted and meandered through other more aesthetic endeavors.
But after one too many near-trips on the loose carpeting and enough time staining it ourselves to wonder what the heck else we were walking on, we decided it was time to take the plunge.
Now, from our present-day situation, we’ve been through a couple different iterations of our staircase already. I’m going to take you back to the very beginning - the first whispers of a possibility beyond mud-colored carpet from at least the 90s.
The first step was removing the carpet. like Indiana jones, we approached the task with curiosity, trepidation, and a sense of adventure. Who KNOWS what we were going to find under there??
what we found... was no less than 10,000 staples.
and, like most of the wooden surfaces in our home, they’d been painted brown.
Are you kidding me? isn’t wood already that color?
I’ll never understand this.
THe pros of removing stair carpeting is it’s likely already the right width to be able to leave out on the curb. hmm... I can’t think of another pro.
The cons are many and mostly involve tedium. So many staples, so many small tack strips, so many different surfaces to contend with - not just the stairs, but the risers too!
and after the carpet is gone, you know what comes next right?
SANDING.
Oh, the joys of sanding.
We considered sanding off all the paint on our stairs, and refinishing the wood we knew was somewhere underneath the layers. but the wood was so thoroughly riddled with staple holes and scuffs and incredibly worn down already, we decided to sand to a smooth enough finish to paint over. Plus, the other trim around the house is all painted too. LIterally decades, if not a century’s worth, of paint to contend with. It’s a losing battle for us at our current stage of expertise, and, you know, the necessity of actually living in this space while we do stuff to it.
Once again, if you’re still with me then you have proven your strength and ability to contend with another recipeh.
Please enjoy this amuse bouche of carpet removal and sanding stairs!
Ingredients
for prep:
polyethylene sheeting (to close off entries and vents during sanding)
bandana
old clothes
for carpet removal:
utility knife (to cut carpet)
dust mask (skip if you have the respirator)
pry bar (the easiest and fastest way to remove staples)
hammer and/or rubber mallet
pliers (needlenose is great for tough angles when removing nails or staples)
contractor bags (do not skimp, there will be sharp objects like those 10,000 staples I mentioned, and you do not need to cut yourself with those)
for sanding:
random orbital sander (hand sander)
the recipeh
prep the room and yourself (1-3 hours). remove anything in the room and on the walls that could fall victim to an accidental whack with a roll of carpet (or otherwise be in your way). open the windows for ventilation and get a fan going. Removing old carpet is going to kick up a lot of dust!
Pull up that carpet (1-2 hours). check your garbage pickup rules and cut the carpet in widths that your trash collectors will accept. For most stair widths, you’re probably not going to need to cut it - but don’t skip the step of checking first. As you cut and pull the carpet up from the tack strips, roll up the carpet in sections and secure with duct tape. The padding may be small enough to toss into a contractor bag vs. rolling it up - do what will make your garbage collectors happy!
remove tack strips and staples (1-2 hours). Do this step carefully using a pry bar and a hammer or rubber mallet. Toss the tack strips into the contractor bag. If they’re long and unwieldly, consider breaking them into smaller pieces so nobody gets poked putting them away.
even after you think you’re done, scan all surfaces, including the risers, for stray staples; remove them with pliers/pry bar. it will go faster with the pry bar, but pliers are handy for stubborn ones. Our irregular and historical staircase included a variety of shapes and sizes of staples from what were definitely multiple carpet installations over the years. Many were doubled-up on themselves and needed pliers to remove. have all your tools at the ready! Again, toss the staples and such into a contractor bag immediately so you don’t risk stepping on them later.seal the room (1 hour). use poly sheeting and duct tape to thoroughly seal off all entryways and vent openings; also, cover electrical outlets. this will take about an hour and you will thank yourself for every minute you spent doing it.
it’s time for the star of the show: SANDING!!! If you’re removing paint, use a 40 grit paper and a hand sanding machine. We used a random orbital sander, which worked well for our very worn and warped stairs. Now - we did NOT sand the spindles (the buddies that are holding up the stair rail). Those can be sanded, but it may actually be worth saving the time and buying new ones if they’re painted. Sand by hand with sheets of sanding paper if you are just removing old stain or finish.
et voila! make sure to clean up thoroughly. Get all the dust up with a vacuum (preferably a shop vac in case of stray prickly things like staples), and for hard to reach places try a dustpan and brush to get into crevasses. Go over the floor with cleaner afterward - this will ensure you’ve got a smooth and clean surface to paint or stain.
speaking of which, After cleanup, you’re ready to move on to painting or staining. More on that to come!
Have you completed a similar project? I’d love to know how it went for you! If you are following this recipeh, let me know your feedback - reach out on Instagram and say hello!
