Worked case: refinishing a 16-step staircase — what happens and what it costs

The scenario

Picture a hillside house with a staircase that rises from the entry to the bedrooms, with one landing and a quarter turn. The treads are oak with painted white risers. Years of family traffic have worn the finish through at the middle of each tread.

Sixteen steps put the job in the larger stair tier of the calculator. The owners want the treads to match the oak floor in the hall upstairs, so three stain samples are brushed on the underside edge of the top step and compared with the hall floor in daylight.

Stairs are slippery when wet and dangerous when the finish is soft, so the sanding is done with an edge sander and a hand scraper at the nosings, and one extra coat of finish is specified for the heavy wear. The painted risers are masked, since the work is limited to the treads.

The household needs the stairs to get from level to level, so the plan covers an interim route: the work is staged so that half the stairs are never finished at the same time as the other half, or the household uses a different path while the finish dries.

What the job involves

1. The treads are inspected for loose pieces, and nails or screws are set below the surface.
2. Risers and the wall edge are masked, and the treads are sanded with an edge sander and a hand scraper at the nosings.
3. Samples are tried on a hidden spot and compared with the upstairs floor.
4. The stain, if chosen, goes on and the finish follows in coats with a light abrasion between them.
5. A rope or a gate keeps people off the stairs until the maker's data sheet allows walking on them in socks, then shoes.

Materials and tools

• Edge sander and hand scraper
• Painter's tape and masking paper
• Wood stain samples and clear finish
• Non-slip stair mats for later use

Add-ons often paired with this job

• Stairs: 15 or more steps — +$1,600–$3,400. A staircase of 15 or more steps is a flat line.
• Stain samples on your floor — +$75–$225. Samples on a hidden tread edge are compared with the hall floor.
• Extra finish coat — +$250–$800. An extra finish coat on heavy-wear treads is a flat line.

Why it is done this way

Stairs are priced by the step, not by the square foot, because each tread has a nosing, edges and risers that take hand work. This job therefore has no base rate and no area, only the flat lines.

The extra coat reflects where wear is worst: the center of each tread and the nosing. Without it, the finish wears through again sooner.

The same tier-based approach appears in installs, where new treads, risers and nosings are fitted per step.

Stairs also carry a practical cost that no table shows: the household loses its route between floors while the finish dries. Planning a day when everyone can stay on one level, or splitting the work so one side of each tread is done at a time, keeps the house livable.

Because a staircase is the most visible wood in a house, the sheen on it is worth deciding with the main floor in view. A satin sheen on the treads and the same satin upstairs reads as one floor; mixing sheens makes a good job look patchy.

What would change the price

• Some treads are cracked and need replacement.
• The risers are painted a new color as well.
• The staircase has a winder or curve with extra cutting.
• The stain is darker and needs more samples.
• The upstairs hall floor is refinished in the same visit.