Worked case: a hillside house and its 13 oak stair treads — steps and cost

The scenario

Picture a two-story house on a hillside lot with a tall window above the stair landing. The staircase has 13 oak treads and painted white risers. Afternoon sun has faded the top treads a shade lighter than the bottom, the center of each tread is scuffed, and the nosings have worn pale.

A staircase is a job of its own because the household has to keep using it. The treads are coated in alternate sections, or the job is split into halves with a night between them, so no one is cut off from the upper floor.

The landing at the top was done earlier in a mid-brown tone, and the owners want the treads to match. A stain sample goes on the edge of one tread and is checked in morning light and in the afternoon, since the sun changes the look of the wood.

The handrail and balusters are masked, not refinished, and the risers are taped. In dry summer air, finish cures quickly, so coats go on in small runs to avoid lap marks.

What the job involves

1. The treads are checked for loose boards and worn nosing, and the risers, walls and rail are masked.
2. Each tread is sanded, and the edges and nosing are worked by hand or with a small sander on a vacuum.
3. A stain sample is chosen against the landing, and the treads are stained to match.
4. Finish goes on in sections so the household can use half of the staircase at a time.
5. The stairs stay closed to foot traffic until the data sheet allows it.

Materials and tools

• Small sander and edge sander on a vacuum
• Stain and finish matched to the landing
• Painter's tape and drop cloths
• Hand tools for the nosing

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Stairs: 8 to 14 steps — +$750–$1,700. A staircase of 8 to 14 steps is a flat line.
• Stain samples on your floor — +$75–$200. A sample on a tread edge is compared with the landing.

Why it is done this way

A staircase is priced as a flat line because its cost follows the number of steps, not the floor area. Thirteen treads fall in the middle tier of 8 to 14 steps.

The reason to match the landing is color: floors finished years apart rarely look alike, and the eye finds the difference at the top of the stairs.

A fresh finish is slippery until it has cured, so the stair is closed for the time the data sheet states.

Sun-faded wood cannot be matched with stain alone. The sanding removes the faded skin, and the stain brings the treads to the landing's tone, which is why the sample is judged in two kinds of light.

The stringers and skirt boards are outside the flat price; if they are painted or stained, they are masked, and touch-ups on them are a small separate job.

What would change the price

• A tread is loose or cracked and needs replacing.
• The risers are repainted too.
• The staircase has a turn or a winder step.
• The handrail and balusters are refinished too.
• The landing needs a recoat to match.