Update at the Flip House July 24, 2015

If you have been reading my previous flip house updates you may remember I have been working very long and hard on the staircase leading up to the second floor.  And it's now completely done!  The best part of it is I did it 100% all by myself with my own two little hands and I seriously couldn't be prouder of myself or of how it turned out.

Mind you, I have never fabricated a staircase in my life, nor do I personally know anyone who has, so unfortunately I had no one to go to and ask for advise.  That's when I do my best work though because the pressure's on.  I have had lots of practice teaching myself how to do a good majority of the things I currently know how to do simply through trial and error, reading about it, or watching YouTube videos.  And boy were there a lot of errors made throughout the process of building this staircase.  Luckily those errors did not cost over $20 all together so I am very fortunate for that.  Every other error I made I was able to simply re-do in a different way without material waste.

That being said I'm not sure I EVER want to do another staircase again.  It was taxing both physically and mentally not to mention the single most time consuming project to date at the flip house.  But really, who am I kidding?  Now that I know how to build a staircase from scratch I probably will do one again....I just want it to be a long time before I do that's for sure!

So I'm sure you are interested in seeing what this staircase looks like, huh?  Here she is in all her glory:

The existing oak stair treads had flaws in them that I needed to camouflage so I chose to paint the risers and balusters white and stain the treads and handrail a super dark brown that matches perfectly with the knots on the unpainted wood wall above the staircase.  I feel like this ties the whole thing in together, not to mention the fact that white risers and dark stained treads are very much on trend right now. 

Please don't mind the photos of the stair treads as they are very dusty right now.  While I could have cleaned them before I took the photo, I opted not to just because they will get dirty again in 2.6 seconds since the house is still a construction zone and they are a very dark wood.  Once the house is completely done and carpeting is installed I will show final photos of every room and I pinky promise there won't be plaster dust anywhere.

There are many details that go into completely fabricating a staircase from scratch not to mention the height of the handrail and the distance between the balusters have to be up to code (which I had to look up).  My plans for the staircase changed half a dozen times both before I started the project and during the process.  I'm pleased with the results though and feel like they fit in well with the style of the house. 

There were many difficult aspects to this staircase but I think probably the hardest challenge for me was the run from the landing up to the second floor.  I fabricated the entire section in the living room and carried it by myself up the stairs, set them in place, and fastened them down.  I feared on several occasions I was going to drop it off the side of the stairs because it was so heavy and awkward.  Eventually I got it done though and I did a little happy dance after I set them in place and fastened them down.  Perhaps I should have recorded that dance on video for your viewing pleasure.

Long story short, initially I was hesitant to take on the project but in the end I am so glad I tackled these stairs all by myself because this single project has given me so much more confidence in myself than I think anything else has given me before.

Just for fun here are some before and after pictures side by side:

I just love how much more open the space is!

A Little Bit of Randomness:

• I've been spending so much time at the flip house that I feel like it's my second home.  I know it so well inside and out that when it sells it will be very bittersweet to see it go.  I'm not going to know what to do with all my extra time! 

• My pet rabbit, Buster, has been so excited to get put up at night.  I've been making a habit of giving him some type of treat every night when I put him to bed so that now when I go out onto the front porch he runs into his hutch, puts his front paws against the wire, and sticks his nose as far as he can through the slots in anticipation of his treat.  When I slip his treat through the wire he snatches it out of my hand and just goes nuts! 

• I have a new favorite song of the moment by the band Isles called Home Again.  I'm seriously obsessed with it.  You can listen to it here.