New Stairs for the New Year

 

 

My husband can make just about anything and has become quite the craftsman at making wooden stairs.  He's made them for our last two houses, this house and a friend's house.  Earlier this year, he made them for the staircase going up to the ManCave.  Over Christmas, he made these for the stairs going down to the basement. 

 

 

Previously we had carpet on the stairs, but with the kids living at home as well as their friends going up and down on beige carpet, it really took a beating.  When we had the carpet cleaner here this summer, he told us either the stairs would be beautiful or they'd be ruined by what he was doing to them.  Well, they were ruined, which was fine because I've got the husband who can fix that.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

I've learned that any project done with power tools in the house will make a mess.  Putting this plastic up helped keep the mess contained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This set of stairs had some unique angles that required lots of his skill!  Also, he was able to match the stairs perfectly to the walnut in the rest of the house!

 

 

We've finally smartened up and kicked the kids out of the extra garage so now he has a spot to leave his woodworking during the work weeks. 

 

 

 

 

 

He used the same pattern for this landing as the other landings he's made recently.  I love it!

 

 

 

 

 

It is so nice to have another project done! 

 

Thanks for your visit!

 

Pam

 

 

 

 I am linking to the following parties:

 

 

  Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House 

 

 

 

New Stairs to the Mancave

We recently took carpet out of the Mancave and laid acacia hardwood. See it HERE. It turned out so nice.  The next step was redoing the stairs up to that room.  We have walnut throughout our main living, so we decided to make the new stairs out of walnut. Both woods are fairly close in looks, but we wanted to make sure that the stairs matched the main living area as closely as possible. 


 

 

 

The stairs have a landing in the middle.  My husband came up with this ingenious solution to make the landing look good from both directions.

 

 

Here's how he did it:

 

Lots of specific cuts.

 

Filler was applied to all of the wood so it would fill in any cracks (haha--hence the name FILLER!)  :)  But also to keep the stain consistent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the before.  Not bad carpet, but we didn't want to have wood on both floors, then carpet in the middle...



Pieces of walnut glued up.

 



 

Filler applied to everything.

 

 

 

 

All of the carpet, staples, pad, etc removed.

 



 

All of the bullnose had to be cut off of the old stair treads.  It was SO messy in our entire house!! 

 

 

 

My husband made up this jig so that all of the angles would be cut perfectly.

 

 

 

 

The first step was the hardest as it had the edges sticking out.  It had to be perfect!

 

All of the stair treads and risers were put on.  Liquid Nails was used to hold the stairs down.  The weights stayed on overnight to adhere the glue to the bases.

 

 

 

The edges were put on the bottom stair and finished it off nicely.

This project took about four weekends.  It is so nice to have the stairs done and have the house clean again!

 

Thank you for your visit.

 

Pam

 

 

 

 

 

I am linking to the following parties:

 

 

 



:

  Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

 

Wooden Twine Holder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Christmas, I saw this wooden spool holding a roll of twine in a Crate and Barrel ad.  I thought it looked so neat!  I asked my husband if he could make some?  Yes!

 

 

 

He started with a walnut board. 

 

 

 

He planed it down till it was smooth.

 

 

 

 

 

He was able to cut the circles using his router and drill press. 

 

 

 

He used walnut dowels to keep everything looking consistent.

 

 

 

He used MinWax English Chestnut stain.

And MinWax Wipe on Poly to finish it.

 

 

I bought a roll of twine from Michael's and put it in there.  I am on the lookout for some neat old scissors too!

 

 

It cost about $5 each for the wood.  The twine was $3 with a coupon at Michael's for a total of  $8 each.   I think he did a great job!

 

Thank you for your visit!

 

Pam

 

 

 

I am linking to the following parties:

 

 

 



:

  Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life