Farmhouse Staircase Renovation Progress

Farmhouse Staircase Renovation Progress

Hey there!

I hope you had a restful and fun Labor Day weekend! Ours was a combination of work and play, but after all the extra craziness of the last couple of months (or all of 2020 lol) we definitely took some time to relax and disconnect! However, we also made some farmhouse staircase renovation progress!

In case you’ve missed where we started with this project you can see it HERE!

And my last update post can be found HERE!

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Farmhouse Staircase Steps

So the big news is we have STEPS!! Haha! Ed got all the treads attached and we both couldn’t be happier about how everything is coming together!

Because we left the structural parts of the staircase original we opted to attach the new treads the same way the old ones were. Ed nailed them through the top but also added some additional support by screwing them from underneath the back too.

140 Year Old Steps

This staircase has already come a long way! I love how the barn wood risers and treads turned out but mostly I love the fact that we we’re able to take something from the property and reuse it in the house. When we’re done we’ll still have a 140 staircase, but it will be “new”! And yes we know they’re steep lol!

Caulking the Staircase

After Ed attached the treads I caulked all around them for a more seamless look. But I love that they’re still full of character, imperfections, and age! Then I gave everything another coat of paint! We’re using Behr’s Ultra Pure White in eggshell for the walls and moldings in the kitchen.

Staircase Project Plans

The next part of the project is REALLY tricky! We’ll be trying to make a newel post, railing, and spindles that were pulled out of another 1880s farmhouse work in this one! Projects like this one require a lot of problem solving. The first thing we had to consider is setting the newel post.

Obviously we want the post to sit flush on the flooring. We also know we’ll be removing several layers of flooring throughout the downstairs to refinish the original wood floors below them. This led us to further explore what that would be like and if we would be able to remove a small section where the post will sit.

Farmhouse Flooring

Because we’ve already peeked in some places in this and other rooms we had a general idea or so we thought lol! We know that the linoleum in here is on top of the same wood flooring as our living room. It’s NOT original to the house. And under the wood flooring in the living room, and our current bedroom downstairs, there is a green tile that is glued down with black glue. And we’re still trying to decide if we want to remove it of cover it. It’s something we’re still considering because we’re aware of the asbestos risks and also the incredible amount of work involved.

We’ve been able to see a little bit of green under the linoleum in the kitchen and assumed it was the same tile. But when we did some investigating over the weekend it appears that the previous owners had laid a green tile beside the wood floors in the kitchen to create a tile walkway of sorts. It looks like it goes from the exterior door to what used to be the back screened in porch, which is now walled in and will one day be our dining room/sunroom.

Under that tile is plywood, and then there’s the original wood floors that appear to have carpet glue on them, which isn’t as difficult to remove as the black mastic glue.

The Plan is Still a Work in Progress

So basically we’re at a stand still with this project until we either go for it and start removing all the layers of flooring and hope like heck there’s not too much damage to the wood floors below in the kitchen or the rest of the downstairs. Or we track down enough reclaimed wood flooring for the entire downstairs. Or come up with another solution. No matter what I want all of the wood flooring on the main level to be the same. And that’s where we are right now lol!