Budget Stairs makeover

The stairs makeover project hung around for some years whilst we brainstormed various options and costs.

Our hall was something that most house-hunters never saw beyond when looking at our home. I must admit it was with some imagination and naive enthusiasm that I glimpsed its future potential.

After renewing every surface in the hall, it was time to take on the stairs.  The stone walls exposed, all trim and doors stripped and painted, new ceiling and underfloor heating and tiling was taken on very early on.  The opening up of the hall and adding French doors to the newly added terrace seemed to make the stairs look even darker and more foreboding.

Deciding on our look

The stairs are solid elm and stained dark brown, like so most things here in old Gascon France. They have very few redeeming features and in my heart, I wanted them gone.

I had dreams of a romantic reclaimed stone staircase with iron railings. However a quick word with a local stonemason and his ball-park figure given and that idea was quickly shelved.  A few glasses of red to drown the sorrows and it was time to move on to Plan B.

Our next idea of replacing them and perhaps re-configuring them, went the same way as my stone and iron plan due to budget sensibility. We needed a Plan C.

Wood bleach solution

I love browsing hardware stores and seeking out new DIY products. A visit to Leroy Merlin’s paint department had me discover something called Decolourant.  This Ebinistes product (I love their range) claimed it would bleach wood. You can read about it here

With my potential plan C purchased I began testing it on the underside of the stairs and was delighted to see it did what it said on the tin.

A quick warning here – if you use this product, ventilate the area well and wear a gas mask.  I didn’t and we nearly had to call the ambulance.  Anyway, we learnt our lesson and now approach using this stuff in a new and safer way.

Husband quickly came on board with the idea and the stripping and sanding began in preparation.  However, we still had the problem of very heavy horizontal heavy timbers up the side and around the top plus the ugly newel posts.

The thought of pulling them apart and adding a new look with spindles and perhaps nicer newel posts had me reeling.

We decided instead to remove two of the three horizontals and take it from there. If after the rest of the project was completed we still hated them, we would removal all of them and add new spindles or some other safety element up the sides.

The project scope

We decided to bleach the handrail and stair treads. Every other element would be painted in a light antique white eggshell.

It was also decided at this stage not to refit the cupboard under the stairs and leave it open. This meant that every surface had to be pre-prepared ready for a full reveal underneath.

Prepping the surfaces

First – remove the ugly horizontal balusters.

Second – fill all major the holes and damage plus the large holes left behind from removing the balusters.

Next – sand all surfaces top and bottom of the stairs and underneath as they were now revealed.  This job took ages! We allowed a couple of days but in reality it was double this.

The bleach will not work well if old shellac/varnish is not removed evenly.

Et voila – a clean raw set of stairs.

The bleaching process

As mentioned above, the bleaching solution is brilliant but it is highly toxic.  After a day on hands and knees applying with a brush I began to feel sick, could not get my breath and my heart began racing.  Decision time – Google the problem or call an ambulance?  Google confirmed the problem and with a lot of fresh air and coughing, I began to feel better. However it did take a few days to get all the nasty gases out of my system.  IDIOT!

I found using a natural bristle brush the easiest way to work in the bleach. It takes a while to perform its full magic (overnight) and to see the full effect. We applied two coats to most surfaces not being painted although there were two or three areas that had some additional touch up.

The end result of the bleaching was that the “wear and tear” was still visible and I was thrilled that their “antique” look was not totally lost.

Finishing to exposed wood elements

We were introduced to a wonderful wood floor finish in the early days of renovation here and it has been used on over 300 square metres of floors throughout the house and guest annex.  It is not cheap! Something magic happens when it reacts with the wood? You can read out it here

It was explained to me (in French) and I got the gist of the natural oil and cellulose reacting to create a new structure. Better than it forming a strong durable finish, it is also matt, natural, odor free, easy to apply with a brush or foam roller and relatively quick drying/setting. What’s more – brushes and rollers wash out in soap and water!

As most of our original floors were in pretty bad condition, it has not only protected the new finishes we have created but strengthened the wood in the process.

We used this product for both the stair treads and hand rail.

It was decided to oil the wood before painting the other areas for easier clean up and masking. Once the wood is sanded and bleached, it needs protection quickly.  Working on them and general everyday use meant that they were becoming marked and damaged without this protection.

Painting the remainder

The rest of the finishing was relatively easy if a bit fiddly in parts.  We used a slight contrast colour for the first riser (at front and underneath) to match our floor tiles.  In our case this was Autentico Almond Eggshell, the same colour we had chosen for our door trims.

The eggshell paint is lovely to use and gives an old worldly look – not too matt or glossy.  A few tips:

• eggshell paint does not like being overworked. You must not keep working over an area that is painted or you will get drag marks and clumping
• eggshell paint needs some weeks to fully harden and then is almost indestructible. Take care not to knock or kick the risers and balusters until totally hardened.
• Tape up your wood areas well – although any mistakes or brush overs on your oil finished wood will wipe clean fairly easily.
• A job this size will take some time to complete.  Keep your brush in a zip lock bag in between usages to save on washing out.

I use Autentico paints for furniture and fine finishes although there are many other brands jsut as good.  However, if like me you like to order it online and love the “current” colours, you can order it here

Time and costs

This project was completed over the winter months and took some weeks to complete.  However, all in all it was less invasive than having the old stairs removed and new ones installed and of course there was the cost comparison. No comparison really.

Cost of materials:

One bottle of Ebinistes Decolourant (wood bleach) €24.90

One 5 litre can of Blanchon Huile Environnement (natural floor/wood oil) €112.00

One 1 litre tin of Autentico Corfu White Eggshell paint €27.95

Other materials (sandpaper, painters tape and leftover Autentico Almond Eggshell paint) were part of our workshop stock.

Total cost of stairs less than €150.00 not including our time, which of course is FREE.

In my mind many thousands of euros were saved by taking on this Plan C and the end result well worth the effort.  However, I will let you be the judge!

 

Now on to the annex stairs – a new plan for these ones though.  Stay tuned!