Stairway to...Upstairs

Our house has been a labor of love since the day we bought it.  The most extreme demolition included purging all lathe and plaster, ripping up carpet and linoleum, tearing out walls, removing a larger-than-life wood furnace in the dungeon-like basement, removing the fish house...I mean entryway... that was falling off the east side of the house, smashing out a chimney; then began the restoration: pulling up, sanding/planing and re-laying all the wood flooring on the main floor, painting and patching siding after installing all new windows, building a dormer to create space for a second bathroom, refinishing the window and baseboard trim, tiling the entry, replacing all electrical, milling/laying/painting wood flooring upstairs, bathroom/bedroom/kitchen cabinetry.  This was all done by Andrew and other handy family members (I painted the walls, so technically I contributed).  There were a few things we hired out- like all the major excavating that needed to be done to bring the plumbing/well up to date, some of the bathroom tiling, plumbing, waterproofing, and ductwork. 

And now, after 3 years of anticipation and 3 weeks of hard work, our stairway project is in the books!  My perfectionistic husband is a cabinet maker, so this DIY challenge was like a dare for him.  "I dare you to conquer me," cried this rebellious flight of hideousness.  Let's just say Andrew won, okay?  Check it out:    

We lived with these dreadful stair treads for 3 years...and I never took a photo of them in the house.  Wow.

So excited that this process was rolling!



Testing paint colors.  It took a few days and a few remixes, but we finally settled on a pale gray-green that was custom mixed by the good folks at our local Hirschfield's in order to get it just right.

And the *glorious* final product.  So proud of Andrew's craftsmanship.

The treads are made from the cross arms of power poles.  My dad is a lineman for Minnesota Power and gladly takes worn out poles home, saving them from the wood chipper.  Andrew milled, plugged the bolt-holes, stained and finished them.  It's fun knowing there's a story behind the wood.

To upstairs.