For about a year I have been thinking about redoing our stairs. Should I?Can I? Would I dare? Rip up carpet??
Almost 7 years of wear….stains that can’t come up…
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. It 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….
Needle nose pliers are your best friend for getting carpet off of steps….
Starting at the corners and pulling with all your might…
I pulled about 3 steps at a time, rolling the carpet as I went up the stairs. Then I used a sharp razor knife and cut the carpet and took it outside. Continuing on this way until I got to the top….
At the top, I cut the carpet with an extra sharp razor knife…leaving the carpet on the rounded part of the top thread where the upstairs hall starts. Pull up all the carpet pad….
To take up all the carpet tack strips, just place a flat head screw driver under the strip—tap in with the hammer and gently pry it up. Keep moving the screwdriver until the tack strip comes up. Do this same technique with all the 3,567,987 million staples….
Ok, maybe not quite that many….but it sure felt like it! I saved them in a solo cup…then I sat with a nice glass of red wine and admired my hard work!!! Phase one complete! Money spent during phase one…ZERO—besides a little blood, sweat and tears….I joke,I joke….
Stay tuned!!!
you are one tough cookie! that's so cool! can't wait to see the next step!
I can't wait to see phase 2!! This is inspiring me!
I can't wait to see the next step (ha ha so to speak). It looks great so far.
Great job!!! That has to be the hardest part. Can't wait to see what is next! Paint? A runner? Stripes??
Oh how exciting!! We have plans to change up our staircase as well (although that involves stripping the existing stain vs ripping up carpet). It was a project we were putting off for a bit to tackle some other DIY tasks, but this has me itching to start :0)
I've been contemplating doing this exact thing for a couple of years now. Can't wait to see how yours turns out. It looks good so far. I don't think my stairs look that good underneath my carpet.
Good for you! I'm sure it was a whole lot of work though. I really really need and want to do this to our main stairs, but our carpet is wrapped around the spindles, not a neat wood edge like yours.
You've had some motivation lately! Can't wait to see the finished results!
How exciting! We did this a while back (I blogged about it) and stained our stairs black. I absolutely LOVE them now! We need to find a runner still. . .
awesome job! i have been dreading taking up the remaining carpet in 2 of our bedrooms. it's a dirty, dirty job and then i still have to convince my husband to tile instead of new carpet!
It's going to be great! Thanks for linking up to the 1st Project of the Year Party!
I removed the carpet in my stairway about 5 years ago and you have inspired me to take on that project. although my stairs are going to need a lot of sanding. aaaarrrrgghh!
Just read the entire stair project. What a great change, love the colour and contrast on white.