Attic Update 8: Stairs

Ok, we all know where these stairs started.  Old, unfinished, dirty & damaged orange-toned wood.  Ignore the cat butt in the top of this photo - his name is Chaz & he's into photobombing...in inappropriate ways.

 I had already primed half of the risers a while back.  Um, like last April...

Then, last week I bit the bullet & stained the treads Minwax's "Jacobean".  It was looking pretty scary & I really had to work hard to keep myself from panicking.  SO DARK.

Then I put 4 coats of polyurethane on the treads with a cheap foam brush...waiting the recommended 2 hours between coats.  It was an all day process, but I probably only spent a little over an hour actually working on it...the rest of the time was spent waiting for each coat to dry.

Pretty treads!  (The rest, at this point, is still awful...& still scaring me.)

Then I put another coat of primer on the risers.  It's looking better after each step, isn't it?  At this point I started to see the light.

The top half of the risers have two coats of primer...the bottom 5 have only one coat in this picture.  I was really hoping I could get by with only one coat of paint, but I was mentally preparing for two.  This is also before I filled nail holes & caulked the gaps where the treads meet the risers & next to the stringers(?).
 

Yesterday, I caulked some gaps & nail holes over my lunch break, & put another coat of primer/paint-in-one on the risers.  I think I'll be able to call it good after one more coat...& perhaps a few small touch-ups.

I really love the color of the treads now...& actually love all of the dings & imperfections in the wood.

It's all very strange & exciting to see things in the attic {slowly} coming together...

Right now all want to do is go touch my new stairs.  So buttery smooooooth!  :)

In addition to one more coat of paint, I still have to replace the old hand rail, open up the door at the bottom of the stairs (opens into the space between the dining & living rooms), paint the walls, & possibly nail up some board & batten type trim on the stairwell walls.  It's already looking 100% better than what we started with though!

Attic Checklist:
insulation: between rafters, loose in walls, foamboard on ceiling
frame up walls & closets
level out ceiling & jack up sagging roof
new electrical throughout attic
new window
planks in bunk & on upper portion of end walls
move vent from closet to bedroom
drywall (hang, tape, mud, sand)
build, paint, hang French doors
prime, paint (one more coat), stain, varnish steps
remove door to attic & open up
prime & paint walls & ceiling
spray, make, & hang lights
finish floors (stain, paint, just varnish?)
paint & install stair railings
paint & install baseboard trim
paint & install board & batten trim
closet systems
storage doors for under eave access