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Thomasparketpro

06 · SERVICE · STAIRS

Stair renovation

A staircase is the hardest-working wooden surface in the house and the first thing visitors touch. Stripped of old carpet or paint, sanded and finished to match your floor, it becomes part of the room instead of a leftover.

  • Typical duration2–3 days
  • WorkLargely by hand
  • FinishWear- and slip-rated
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A wooden staircase with turned balusters and a newel post

The full story

The most-used floor in the house, standing up

Stairs are almost entirely edges, so most of the work is done by hand and with small machines. Carpet staples and glue come out, old paint is taken back, treads and risers are sanded, and the nosings — the parts that wear first — are shaped and smoothed carefully.

The finish is chosen for grip and wear, not just colour. Stairs are usually lacquered in a matt or satin system, sometimes with an anti-slip additive; a matching stain lets a pine staircase read as the same wood as an oak floor without pretending to be it.

Living with the work needs planning. A staircase is normally done in halves or with every other step left walkable, and drying times are respected — that is the difference between a finish that lasts years and one that scuffs in a month.

Right for you if

  • Carpet or vinyl coming off wooden stairs
  • Painted or worn steps that should match a renovated floor
  • Creaking, or nosings worn round from years of use

On the day

How a staircase is renovated

  1. Strip

    Carpet, underlay, gripper, staples and glue are removed and the timber underneath assessed step by step.

  2. Sand and repair

    Treads and nosings sanded, creaks wedged and glued, damaged nosings repaired or replaced.

  3. Finish in halves

    One side is coated while the other is walked on, then swapped — so the house keeps its stairs.

  4. Detail work

    Risers painted or finished, edges cut in by hand, and the finish matched to the adjoining floor.

Scope

What the quote covers — and what it does not

No surprises on the invoice. This is the standard scope for a stair renovation; anything outside it is listed and priced separately before work starts.

Included as standard

  • Removing carpet, underlay, gripper, staples and glue
  • Sanding treads and shaping worn nosings
  • Wedging and gluing creaking steps
  • Finishing in halves so the stair stays usable
  • Edges and details cut in by hand

Quoted separately

  • Risers, stringers, handrail and spindles unless agreed
  • Replacing broken treads or structural repairs
  • Staining to match a floor of another species
  • Anti-slip inserts or stair-nosing profiles

The result

From covered to part of the house

Two oak steps between a living room and the hall, in the same wood and sheen as the floor around them — steps and floor read as one surface, not as a separate piece of joinery.

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The two steps between the pink room and the hall, finished in the same knotty oak as the floor

Finish options

Four ways to finish the same floor

Colour and sheen change how a room reads. Thomasparketpro brings samples so you can judge them on your own boards, in your own light.

  • Wide-plank light oak floor running towards garden doors, still at the finishing stage

    Natural oil

    MATT · WARM

    Deepens the wood a shade and keeps the grain open.

  • Pitch pine plank floor sanded back to a natural pale tone in a room with a bay window

    White oil

    MATT · LIGHT

    Holds back the yellow in oak and lifts a dark room.

  • Old pine floorboards sanded smooth and even, in front of tall panelled double doors

    Hardwax

    SATIN · TOUGH

    Looks like oil, resists water like a light lacquer.

  • An oak strip floor divided by a line of masking tape, raw sanded wood on one side and freshly lacquered wood on the other, roller in the foreground

    Lacquer

    MATT TO GLOSS

    A sealed film for stairs, hallways and shops.

Oil · hardwax · lacquer, side by side
PropertyOilHardwaxLacquer
LookMatt, open grainMatt or satinMatt, satin or gloss
Feel underfootLike bare woodWood with a closed topSealed film
Water and spillsWipe up promptlyBeads on the surfaceBest in class
Local repairSpot by spotRefresh a routeScreen the whole area
CleaningOil soap, damp mopWax soap, damp mopNeutral cleaner, damp mop
Refresh interval2–4 years3–5 years7–10 years

Sanding sits underneath all three — the choice is only about the finish on top.

The carpet had been on for thirty years. Now the stairs read as the same floor as the living room — it changed the whole hallway.
Terraced house in Nijmegen · 14 steps
Close detail of an oak newel post beside white balusters

What drives the price

Priced per project, not per guess

Every quote is written after seeing the floor. These are the factors that move the number up or down, so you know what you are being asked about.

  1. Number of steps

    The clearest driver — a straight flight of 13 is very different from two winding flights.

  2. What comes off

    Glued vinyl and thick paint take far longer to remove than a stapled carpet.

  3. Scope

    Treads only, or treads plus risers, stringers, handrail and spindles.

  4. Matching

    Staining a pine stair to match an oak floor adds sampling and an extra coat.

Start with the area

Measure your rooms in a minute — the total travels with your quote request, so the first reply already fits your project.

  • Multiple rooms in one total
  • Comma or period decimals
  • No account, no obligation
Open the floor area calculator

Afterwards

Keeping the finish

A staircase wears about five times faster than a floor, so its routine is short but frequent.

First 3 days

Socks, not shoes

Use the finished half carefully; a fresh stair finish marks easily under grit.

Weekly

Vacuum the nosings

Sand collects on the front edge of every tread — exactly where the finish wears through.

Every 5–8 years

Recoat the treads

Risers usually still look new; recoating just the treads keeps the whole stair fresh.

Questions

Asked before every job

Something else on your mind? Ask it in the quote request — you get a written answer, not a call centre.

The machines extract at the source into sealed bags, so there is no cloud and no grey layer on your shelves. Expect a fine film in the first days — as with any work in a lived-in house — and doorways screened off while the machines run.

Often combined with

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Want your stairs to match your floor?

Send the room measurements and a photo of the floor — you get an honest recommendation and a written quote.

Request a free quoteCalculate floor area