In Focus

The crappy stairs in my house have finally been replaced and I couldn’t be happier!

Since the day I moved in, I did not like the stairs leading up to the second floor. They were carpeted, and it was a thick squishy carpet that was already pulling away from the steps themselves. Having pets and allergies the carpet just had to go. I quickly understood why it was carpeted... 

There was old glue blackened and dried to the stairs, as well as many staples of various kinds and sizes embedded in the wood. Using the trusty goo gone, I was able to remove the old glue which revealed even more problems. The stairs were  cracked, gouged and scuffed, and the only remedy would have been to fill the deep gouges and sand them down. The problem I encountered was the staples. The two plus inch staples were extremely difficult to remove, and no matter the method I used they would often break off to a point I could no longer get them out. The only way to get some of them out would be to gouge out the wood. I worked on the stairs for hours and I could not get all the staples removed. Time and time again I would try something new, even to the point of taking out one of the treads to see if I could hammer them out. That didn’t work either. 

There was no walking barefoot on the stairs without the risk of getting stabbed by a staple. I resigned to the fact and had accepted the idea that  the stairs would have to be replaced even though it would cost money I didn’t have. 

Naturally, every time I saved a little money, another expense would pop up, and I would have to start all over again. It’s a vicious cycle. 

The Small Cities Development Grant has been a huge life and sanity saver. Last week, the stairs were finally replaced, as well as the front and back doors and a couple of windows. 

The back door tested positive for lead, so that had to go. It is so nice having a back door and screen door that actually latch. The new, bigger window lets in so much more light that I keep thinking the back door is open when it’s just the awesome new window. 

The front door is also awesome. There was a slight miscommunication on which way the door opened. So it was try it the other direction or reorder the door. Originally, I wanted to reorder, but after talking it over, gave the new orientation a try. I’m surprised how much better it is. The door opens wider, doesn’t block the closet, and the doorbell is actually on the right side. This makes me wonder if this was supposed to be the actual orientation of the door and it was just flipped in the past. It’s so nice to have a door that’s level and actually seals! 

I am not a fan of white doors, especially for the front door. It’s just a blank canvas to me. I was going to paint it red, but I changed my mind. Then I got an idea to try vinyl. If I don’t like it I can rip it off and do something else. So I am going to try dark purple with glitter. It sounds awesome to me. Guess we’ll see how it turns out. 

But I am so excited to have the new doors and solid-non creaking, non-stabbing stairs that are so much easier to clean. It’s so  amazing!