$80 Stairs Makeover | DIY 

I'm a real estate investor and rehabber. My mom taught me everything I know! Great to see a woman showing how it's done!

you make it look easy, can't wait to remodel my stairs, first-time homeowner and someone tried to quote me $2,847 to remove the carpet and install wood on 12-step stairs Yikes I rather do it myself! Thank you

To the guy that said this was cheap and risky, clearly you took the time to view this DIY video like the rest of us so next time you comment please provide specific suggestions for improvement to You-Tubers like her that put themselves out there to inform, inspire, and empower everyday women like me. It’s easy to knock people down, try something harder like building people up with positive feedback that ultimately helps all of us.

Single mom doing my own home repairs and renovations. Looked this up because my basement now has living space, and people are slipping on the stairs! So happy to find your channel. It really does help somehow, to see women DOING! 🤷‍♀️ THANK YOU!

Holy hell. Stain every other stair. Freaking genius.

Good work. More and more of us women are realizing the fun in the DIY projects. Glad to see that she recorded it. Great video.

Love a women that can do her own handy work I’m the same way. Great work

Girl... You did an amazing job, and you did it all on your own... the floors look amazing.

GIRLLLL...YOU ARE AWESOME!! The stairs look AMAZING!! 👍🏾👏🏾

Thanks for making this video, because you made this project look so easy. I've been wanting to remove our carpet from the stairs, and was trying to find an easy way of doing so. You've done a great job.

Well done. That's what I call creative, practical, skillful --all in one talented individual!

Girl, the difference in prices 4 years later is crazy! Oh well, I've already committed. Thanks for this video!

Beautifully done. As a realtor, I can tell you that's more or less a 8000 dollar job, and you did it for 80 bucks!

Wow!! Amazing job! I'm a finish carpenter for a living a very impressed with what I see here! I like the bead board rips for your riser pieces...nice idea! Might have to steal that idea from ya ;)

DIVA.... THIS WAS BEAUTIFULLY ACHIEVED... YOU DID A FANSTIC JOB ON THESE STAIRS... NOT MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE UNDERTOOK THIS PROJECT. BUT YOU HANDLED THIS LIKE A PRO! HIGH FIVE.... THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL! LOVE IT! THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR WORK!

I don't give out 👍 very often but you get one on this video. Bravo!!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏

Love wood stairs, but with a good wool stair runner going up it. It really looks great and the wool runner holds up a whole lot better than carpet.

I’m redoing my basement with your video and hoping they come out just as beautiful. I will keep you posted!

You have given me a great idea for my stairs!!! When you picked up that can of stain, I held my breathe…..CLASSIC GREY!!! Excellent taste! You do wonderful work Lady 😁

That is some of the best quality DIY I have ever seen. You could put a lot of construction companies out of business.

I swear I couldn't get my husband to do this. He would pay some one and waste all that money. Smh u did an amazing job.

This is great info but won’t work if the stairs are old and worn. My stairs need a miracle lol. Keep up the great work my DIY sister

Did this on my upper hall and stairwell for the same frustrating reasons this woman did. But I had the addition of two sets of paws living in my 60s trilevel. Because of age the wood beneath the carpet was a nice oak in very good shape. A couple of stair treads had dark water stains on them but I removed that with wood bleach, sanded everything well, cleaned the dust well, then stained, then sealed with poly (not water based stuff). The hallway floor was a bit larger so I rent a floor sander. I rented over a holiday weekend so I got an extra day because I couldn't return because of the holiday. For the stairs leading down to the bottom level the wood was in good shape but it was basic builder poplar wood and loaded with rusted staples, carpet fibers, and nails. I did not replace this because I was doing a budget reno. It took a weekend to get rid of that stuff and then I sanded smooth. For any noticeable holes I filledwith wood putty. I used floor paint on the tread and proceeded like this lady did. The cove molding was essential as there were slight gaps between tread & riser. So yes I agree with others what you find under that carpet could be a surprise. I was very lucky but houses from the 80s yep manufactured would is most likely. I steered clear of homes built 1980s plus specifically for this reason as I knew I was going to do updates and want to put as little $$ into my projects as I could. That was the best advice I ever received from an uncle who flipped houses before it was a "thing." Regarding slippery? Yep, I agree the refinished stair treads can be slippery & had the bruises on my tuchas to prove it. When I planned this project I'd considered using something in poly to increase traction but ultimately decided not to do it. But as my pups got older they had a hard time navigating the stairs. My solution was to use washable stair treads with a backing that keeps them in place (improvementscatalog.com). Pups can navigate stairs now and I've not slipped on stairs taking laundry down since I put down treads. One thing I've learned with projects like this is to pick my tools wisely. Get the best quality you can afford but make sure the weight and size is a good fit & weight for your hand. Oversized tools could lead to fatigue or possible injury. FWIW I did this as a 45 year old 5'8" woman who was routinely working with a personal trainer so I had a bit of upper body strength. But dragging a floor sander up and down a flight of stairs was no easy task. Also sanding those stairs took some time. Last wear personal protective equipment especially for demo and sanding. You do not want to get this stuff in your lungs (especially if paint could be lead-based).

Love to see women go getters, not afraid to put in some elbow grease! This turned out beautifully, you did a great job!

Most don't have nice pine under their carpet. Thats rare. It's usually plywood or fiber board.

Oh WOW!!!!! ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! You've totally inspired me to do my stairs. I hate carpet especially with kids and a dog in the house. You are an amazing woman.

Girl you got chip and Joanna gains beat. I wish I had stairs just to do your project!!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Anyone that unliked this video is a hater. This is beautiful, and inspiring! Great job!!!

You did a great job. Let that person who said they would have put sand on the stairs, then you go over there and redo the stairs. Good grief, can't we just give the woman credit for tackling a job that could have cost $1,000 if done by a contractor.

Well done! Stairs looks amazing. I also have an old carpet from the 80s. I'm thinking about using laminate floor boards. I'm not handy at all, but I am honestly a little bit excited to get this little project started. Thanks for sharing your video. Best regards from the old north

Boss woman moves! When i was growing up my mom taught me a lot of handy work and said it would be good for me to know just in case. Worked out because my husband isint handy at all lol. Im trying to learn more as we are buying our first home a fixer upper soon and want to do some of the work myself.

Very nicely done and you inspired me. Removing carpet was easy. Yet, after spending 4 hours stripping, I did more research. Another video showed how waiting on stain to try properly can take days so now I'm thinking about just purchasing pre-finished tread caps.

That looks fabulous. Makes the staircase look wider. ❤️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Wow, great job! They turned out so perfectly. I love that color, too.

I sometimes get irritated that a lot of women don’t understand how much skill, hard work, and art it takes to be a good craftsman. But you obviously know what it takes! Great work!

So good. I have very similar carpeted stairs and I hate them. This video has given me the courage to finally get rid of them. This just came out so nice.

Wow! Such an amazing job! This inspired me to do my stairs. Wish me luck.

Yes queen...a girl after my own heart. Tools and heels. 😍💪🏾

I love a woman that is handy like u. I'm the same way. Nice work!!!cant beat 80 bucks!

I too had gross carpeted stairs. Lucky me they are plywood! Thanks for showing how to do this!!!

THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL! Awesome job & great vid! 👍🏻

Perfect video and definitely going to use it as a reference when I get around to doing my stairs. Probably going to leave out the bead board and paint instead as I want to try and expose all of the original features in our cottage. But great video,short sweet with plenty of information. Especially the every other step reminder.

Thank you so much for this video! The most straight forward video I’ve seen on RU-vid. I was going to paint my risers white until I seen your video of the bead boards and it was so much easier. Thanks!!

I would suggest investing in quarter inch oak plywood for the treads and solid oak strips for the bullnose. It’ll cost a little more but you’ll have stairs that will be much more durable because oak is hardwood and pine is really soft so it will dent and get marks in it very easily.

That looks amazing I’m going to be doing my railing this week and now I’m like ummm what’s under my carpet Awesome job I’m so impressed

You did a great job!! Looks nice and professional

I definitely can try this. Ladies we rock!

Staining every other step - awesome idea!

Girl...can you come to my house...I'm serious. That looks amazingly

You are so lucky that you had actual solid wood underneath. Most are crappy partial board like mine. $80 is like 2 steps for me....

Hi! I was searching for DIY makeover videos for my stairs and your video was the first one I clicked on. After watching your video, I don't need to look any further. This was just what I needed. You did an AMAZING job! Thanks for sharing!

Yes I too am a single female divorced and I’ve done everything from building a bookcase, laying Lino, carpet, cleaning piles under sink and reassembling, I.do everything. I’ve a 21 yr old 6ft6 who still screams muuuuum when there’s a fly in his room. Jeez! Well done 

I can’t wait to get my first home! I will be doing DIYs like these. Thank you!

Damn girl I was wondering how I was gonna finish my stairs! You just inspired me!!!!

1.3 million views and only 15k "likes"? How is that possible? Very helpful video. Thanks for sharing.

I been remodeling houses for 25years. I think you did a great job

The REAL budget and amount of work will completely depend on what's under the carpet! If your house is over 20 yrs old, chances are you will have treads that need to be completely replaced. You may also uncover a MESS left by the builder when they were messy with applying paint, ceiling texture, etc. Just don't expect this under EVERY carpet! I am a bigtime DIYER and we ended up outsourcing this, spent $1000 to have the stairs completely rebuilt. So fair warning to those ...you may get lucky but be ready!

You are one cool lady!!! Good job!

Using this as inspo for my project! I’m so excited!

OMG u just made my day. For a rental I didn't want to spend alot of money on. Thanks

This has inspired me to do the same

402😢sad..lazy..haters.. 💃💃💃👍👌👩😱😍You go girl looks awesome

About to go see whats under my carpet because this is AMAZING!!!💙💙💙

You are amazing! Such a great way to save money and reuse what you already have! Love the final product!

That’s amazing! You did a fabulous job. I was wanting to redo my stairs the same & was hesitant but after seeing you do yours do beautifully I think with a little help of my dad I will give it a go!

Stairs looked great.. quick question. even though the spacing on the landing gives a nice dimension wont it be hard to keep dirst and sand out of each crack? a vacuum wont get everything.will it?

I know this video is from 3 yrs ago, but this is my first time seeing it and I am so amazed! I am now considering doing my steps 🤔

works great every time i will try to use this wood plan

The problem with putting poly on staars, is that you can easily slip and fall. Especially if you're just wearing socks. I would have put a little sand in the stain to give it some grip and make it slip resistant.

You have skills.....great job.... new sub💕💕💯💕

Thank you for this🥺🙏🏼I thought I was gonna have to spend thousands to have someone else do it for us.

I did pretty much the same thing to my stairs last year except my stairs underneath aren't pretty so I sanded and painted down the sides and rises and put 1/2 carpet tile on each tread. Cost overall £100 for two fights, inc. paint. Job done.

Good job 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻♥️

Great job Madame. Wish my stairs were like yours. I have plywood with wide gaps like someone else commented about. Haven't decided what to do yet. Anyone have some cheap suggestions?

Beautiful ! Very gorgeous ! Wonderful ! Fantastic looking ! And the stairs cane out cool also .

Sis you did a great job👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

You go girl!

Does staining the stairs make them slippery ? Great job by the way ,👊.

Ms girl you did the damn thing!!! I’m obsessed with this transformation 😍

Awesome job. Once the kids get a bit older, this is exactly the look we’ll be going for. Gonna “favorite” this vid, and see you in a couple years!

Lucky that the treads were wood!

this is lovely

Love this! My husband and I are putting in new laminate flooring on the second floor but the stair treads are a fortune! We were just going to leave it as carpet but after seeing your video, I think it is just what we need!

Girl you are a boss! Awesome job!

Before: ... ... ... After: !!! !!! !!!

Why on earth would someone cover that beautiful wood with carpet?!

Excellent work,, looks professional and the video was detailed and not too long.

That came out really nice, and the price point is even better.

With all due respect. I really don’t like people give out false hope. Because with all tools you are using is not just $80. Plus the wood is not just $80.

Great job!!

Love this diy, I had to go to 3 stores before we found an employee to cut the Bead Board for the risers, I'm am so excited to see the end results, thanks for sharing this diy with us, it looks so professionally done💯👍

girllllll, i have tried to sand my steps and nothing worked. but i am going to try again. thanks for the breakdown of all items. i'm going to try this for sure. this will be my coronavirus project. i love doing stuff by myself and saving 800 dollars. thanks for this.

I think both stairs are nice carpet is more comfortable but wood is easier to clean if something spill

those look great

Wow...good job. I have to redo a staircase...I never thought of the bead board approach. Sweet. Thanks!

Women love to play with power tools 2! You rock girl

You can redo my stairs anytime, just wear that same shirt 😉

Okay so $80 if you already have the tools...otherwise, hundreds of dollars.

I was excited to see a women doing this! It looks great!

Came out amazing. I'm about to take the carpet off of my stairs so I came here for ideas. I'm 100% using breadboard. You did a fantastic job it looks fantastic