Unstaining hardwood stairs?

[Z-man]

Short version: we are under contract for a home, but the hastily 'freshened' stairway is not to our liking. The oak stair case was stained a dark cherry wood and sealed with a polyurethane coating. We'd like to change all the hardwood floors as well as the stairs to a warmer brown stain. The hardwood floors are a honey oak color, so that will likely only require a sanding, restaining, and resealing. But these stairs - I don't know if we can pull that stain out of them.

Pics of the stairs:




You can see the honey oak colors floors in this shot:



We are looking for more like this brown color (pics of the floor of our old house):



Any ideas? I guess we can sand the stairs down - but the barristers may be an issue with all the nooks and crannies. Would chemicals be able to strip that cherry color off? Or would we be better off just ripping out the stained wood and replacing with new?

Thanks for your input,
-Z-man.

[VINMAN]

That's gonna take some seriously heavy sanding. Might have to remove a lot of material to get it all out.

.

[Tobra]

That would be a lot of work

[Aragorn]

I have done one staircase like this in a rental. Removed carpet and the wood underneath was trashed. Treated it like any other wood refinishing project and used chemical stripper (and clean-up) followed by lightly sanding, staining and poly. Turned out better then I thought it would. I went with a dark stain though. Still looks good 10 years out. Wear good thick gloves because the chemical stripper burns like a MF if you get it on your skin.

Oh, and it is a lot of tedious work. Took me around three weekends of on/off work to do it by myself.

Similar to this type of chemical stripping:

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

That's gonna take some seriously heavy sanding. Might have to remove a lot of material to get it all out.

.

Yup, BTDT. ALOT of work.

[Jay Auskin]

Instead of the nasty chemical stuff, I've found this to be a fantastic product:

[1990C4S]

Pull the railing and strip it outside with chemicals.

Put new oak treads on the stairs.

[bpu699]

Looks fine to me. Lots of folks stain the floors and trim different colors...

You will never be able to go from a dark stain to a light stain on a staircase like that.

The painters would charge more for sanding it than it would cost to rip it out and start over.

Paint stripper doesnt work on stain, only paint. Stain needs to be sanded off...

Bo

[look 171]

Depending on how much and deep the stain is soaked into the lumber. My floor guy can get all that out with a edger and use a scraper near the corners on those steps. An edger is a small aggressive round sander. he usually does it in less then a day. As for the rest of the stuff, if it isn't lose, do not take it out. They are never the same once they come out. I suggest a stripper. Hopefully all the stain will lift. If its oak, there are the pores to deal with.

[dennis in se pa]

It will be a better job to replace the treads.

[Bugsinrugs]

Get some estimates. Then decide. Those steps look good from your pictures. The contrast from dark treads to white risers look good in my opinion

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Get some estimates. Then decide. Those steps look good from your pictures. The contrast from dark treads to white risers look good in my opinion

I agree. I'd just leave it for now and see if it grows on you.

[look 171]

my floor guy charge 100 bucks per step to sand and finish. You do the math.

[craigster59]

From an interior design perspective (which is sort of what I do), I like the darker stairs and railing, more sophistication. The oak look has been done to death. Reminds me of the "Country Chic" geese with bow ties, wedgewood blue, gingham, 90's crap. Bleeech!

[puddy]

I'd look at putting some nice wrought iron balusters on those stairs and Kijiji the wood balusters. Sanding everything else will still be alot of work, but why not save a little labour and upgrade the look a little. Unless the wrought iron look isn't your thing...

[Z-man]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

It will be a better job to replace the treads.

Spoke with my general contractor, and replacing the treads would be rather difficult, time consuming, and expensive.

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Get some estimates. Then decide. Those steps look good from your pictures. The contrast from dark treads to white risers look good in my opinion

Pictures make the stairs look much better than they really are. The poly is not smooth at all so the sanding was done in haste. It was a true 'slipshot Harry' job.

Originally Posted by Rot 911

I agree. I'd just leave it for now and see if it grows on you.

Originally Posted by craigster59

From an interior design perspective (which is sort of what I do), I like the darker stairs and railing, more sophistication. The oak look has been done to death. Reminds me of the "Country Chic" geese with bow ties, wedgewood blue, gingham, 90's crap. Bleeech!

Dark cherry as well as light oak are NOT our style. We are looking for a darker, warmer brown, but not as dark or as red as the current stain of the stairs.

Craigster - I agree - a darker wood give the stairs a more sophisticated look - but the dark cherry is a dated stain as well.

We are looking for something between those two stains.

Originally Posted by puddy

I'd look at putting some nice wrought iron balusters on those stairs and Kijiji the wood balusters. Sanding everything else will still be alot of work, but why not save a little labour and upgrade the look a little. Unless the wrought iron look isn't your thing...

Definitely the style we are looking for. Wrought iron barristers with some wood barristers (White) and a warm brown railing / treads are what we are leaning towards.

Spoke with my general contractor, and we will get his floor guy to advise us - but it looks like we'll remove/replace the railing / barristers, and sand down the treads, stain, and seal. Lather, rise, repeat with the floors as well.

Thank you all for your input! I am sure I will be posting up more 'what to do...' questions about my new home soon! Good to be back in homeownership after an 8 month hiatus. (Sold our old home in September, and will be moving into our new home in June).

-Z

[stomachmonkey]

Aesthetic is personal.

Me, I like the darker wood.

Warmer and feels richer, higher end.

The blond stuff reminds me of the seventies.

To me it looks dated.

[jorian]

I'd REALLY have to hate it to do the work required to change that.
Agree with SMonkey, oak looks dated.

[gprsh924]

Wrought iron with a more modern, darker stain. Can't go wrong here.

[tevake]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

Get some estimates. Then decide. Those steps look good from your pictures. The contrast from dark treads to white risers look good in my opinion

My take on it also, nice contrast.
Big job to change it to a lighter color.