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.