The very first time Chris and I took a tour of this house, I was alarmed at the open sawtooth stringer on the staircase. There were too many jagged lines, and my eyes couldn’t handle it wrapping around the whole entry when you come in the house! This began the start of the staircase renovation, AKA building a staircase.
Building a Staircase
Understanding the anatomy and terms of a staircase will help to understand what I’m talking about, BUT the key thing I wanted out of my dream staircase was a closed stringer.
Well, I got the staircase of my dreams, and in order to do that, they had to rebuild the stairs entirely. I’m almost embarrassed to share how much it cost us because it’s an incredibly high amount. But for the sake of being transparent and at the risk of my own dignity…
The total rebuild landed us at a whopping $47,000.
Before
See what I’m talking about with the jagged open stringer?
After
Pedestal Table | Vase | Faux Stems | Marble Plate | Chandelier | Rug
I’m not saying I don’t love the stairs. They’re actually exactly what I’d hoped for, actually! (With the exception of I wish the railing was stained a little darker, but that is an easy fix down the road). But would I say it was worth the amount we paid? Eek, no. Knowing what we know now, we would have saved a lot of money and:
- Kept the open stringer
- Replaced the treads and risers to match the new flooring
- Replaced the balusters and posts
- Stained the handrail.
The more I think about it, this is almost exactly what we did in our last house!
You live, and you learn, I guess.
Removing a Staircase
Before the holidays, we decided to remove the staircase connecting the bunk room to the downstairs home gym. I mentioned in this post that removing the staircase gives us not only extra square footage but also solves a couple of safety concerns! Having our kids do sleepovers in a room with a staircase that leads down to gym equipment (and an exterior entrance) isn’t ideal at all. Also, the gym has an outside entrance, and I don’t think I could sleep very soundly knowing that since it’s a separate part of the house (even with door sensors and alarms)! Here’s what it used to look like!
Before
This before isn’t even the “before” before! Before moving in, we had all of the flooring replaced, including stair risers and treads. We also had all of the balusters and railings replaced and updated, so this was essentially a brand-new staircase! Right up until we recently had it removed.
Today
Jules Rug | Humphrey Rug | Fur Chair
Renovating a home comes with swallowed costs like this. We couldn’t have known that we would someday remove the staircase entirely without actually living with it and listening to the home! Luckily, removing a staircase costs way less than building a staircase.
How much does it cost to remove a staircase?
For a more thorough breakdown, check out this post!
This number can fluctuate depending on where you live and who you hire, but for this job, the cost for demo, prep/plastic, framing/material, and dump fee was…
$2954
Patching the drywall, painting, adding trim, patching the hardwood flooring in the bunk room and staining, AND electrical in the gym was an additional…
$3360
We had them do it all!
Before
Today
I wish you could have been in this room before and after so you could feel what a difference the stair removal makes. It feels like we gained more square footage than we actually did, and I love how practical it is.
Although we’re not planning to do anything more in the future bunk room this year, we have some patching up to do in the home gym coming up soon!… Right after we finish decluttering and organizing the attic.
Incredible expense for an AMAZING staircase! LOVE!!! You can do no wrong in my book. You have provided me with tons of inspiration and I appreciate your work. I think some people might feel a little left out because your budget has changed dramatically over the years and ours hasn’t :) Love everything you share. Please keep doing what you are doing. If anything, keep providing the look for less, or more economical room makeovers.
Thank you for your vulnerability and sharing your real Costs and true feelings about the project. This is why I love you and this blog so much Chris and Julia! My budget is different than yours but I rarely see real numbers shared and it’s so helpful for planning. I really appreciate the honesty about how you would have done it differently. I have tons of projects like this and it’s easy to believe that I’m the only one with regrets. Your advice about listening to your home, waiting and living in it is critical! You have influenced how I diy, what projects I focus on and I’ve returned countless times to source materials through you. Thank you!
Keep in mind as the home owner it’s easy to focus on our lessons learned or ruminate on what you’d do differently. I get stuck there too. Your home is a true sanctuary thanks to your creativity and should be created. Including what you learned a long the way. Thank you for the endless inspiration.
I know it’s a private home so the lines for people are blurry, but guys: it’s also their business. That pays (how many now) people enough to a) not have other jobs, b) move cross country, c) is growing like crazy, are you watching the follower numbers. These people have multiple businesses — that we know of, there are probably more — bc they are talented af, which is why we are all here. Go ahead and take the sticker shock personally if you want, have you priced a construction project lately? but if you read this as throwing $50k of personal income at a whim, you’re not paying attention.
I really welcome the transparency of the post. A few thoughts popped into my head while I was reading this: Yes, it does look beautiful – and I think, if possible, you should have your home exactly how you want it; however, when it comes to selling the home you will not recoup the monies often spent on ‘custom’ work. Sometimes a staircase is just a staircase. I’ve really enjoyed following you for a couple of years now, but realize that I’m no longer your audience. I enjoy the inspiration, but there’s very little that I can relate to now. Your staircase is two years salary for me (struggling artist with a Masters degree). So while I have enjoyed the earlier posts, everything now just seems excessive. Wishing you the best on your journey!
Yeah, I’ll be heading out for the same reason. Best of luck to you all!
I really enjoyed reading this comment because it is so real/raw and relatable. Thank you.
thank you for sharing the costs! it keeps things real and this information is hard to find.
beautiful results, both for rebuilding and removing the staircase :)