Can You Modernize Stairs and Rails on a Budget in New Jersey?

Buying a home can be a little bit stressful, especially if you’re working within the constraints of modern day salaries and economic challenges.  Like anyone who owns a home, we understand that there can be a little bit of anxiety when it comes to refreshing any outdated or older portions of your home.

You want to add your personal touch without breaking the bank, while also ensuring your home is safe and sound for all your family members and pets!  So of course it may seem quite daunting to be staring at your beautiful grand staircase and notice things are a little bit out of date or in need of repair.  We get it, things are tight right now for a lot of us, and you want to know all the options before you shell out the big bucks. You may find yourself asking: Can you really update a staircase without fully replacing it? Is there a cost-effective way to modernize your stairs and rails on a budget?

In the current economy, there’s nothing more important than budgeting and saving money, especially for a new homeowner. Luckily, there’s a lot of things you can do to spruce up your stairs to give them a much needed refresher, or more cost-effective repair and replacement options rather than a full rebuild!  There’s no shame in working with what you have and doing cosmetic updates or less expensive swaps.  On today’s blog, we’ll be going over some helpful tips you can look into that won’t empty your wallet, but still give your stairs a more palatable makeover into a 2020s vibe!

Let’s explore ways New Jersey homeowners can modernize your stairs and rails on a budget!

Option 1: Install a Runner or Update Your Carpeting

For stairs that are in good standing structurally, and have serviceable handrail and balusters, swapping a dated or grungy carpeting for something new is a very wallet-friendly refresh!  Current interior design trends are leaning towards exposing the stained or painted stairs and accenting them with a runner rug.  This is a contemporary and interchangeable option that allows your staircase to flex with your personal style sensibilities.  Whether you’re a maximalist who loves ornate patterns, or a minimalist who prefers solid colors, or someone who plays with the postmodern vibe and loves bright colors and geometric shapes, there’s a perfect runner out there to suit your needs.  Likewise, there are lots of clever hardware options such as dust corners, stair rods, and clips.  These decorative metal pieces lay across the runner where the tread meets the riser and help secure it in place in addition to staples and adhesive.  They’re a very fashionable choice that adds an extra luxe feeling and pop of style.  You can even fashion your own with some hand tools plus a few pieces of brass pipe and brackets from your local hardware store.

Option 2: Create a Gallery or Mural Wall as a Focal Point

If your stairs are in the main area of the home (and replacing balusters or railing or treads is not in the budget), creating a focal point can pull the eye away from outdated features and over to art instead!  Consider thrifting some fun frames from the local charity shop or yard sales, and creating a gallery wall leading up the stairwell.  You can select family photos, landscapes, paintings, vintage posters, or whatever your heart desires.  Additionally, this is a great space to create a mural moving upwards from bottom to top, to draw they eye up the stairwell and take focus away from dated hardware.  For an even more interesting option, you can embrace the outdated and lean into it by finding decorations and artwork that match the era your handrails and balusters are from. This can be a fun little exploitation into architecture and history as you match your designs and learn to embrace a style period of a bygone era!

Option 3: Painting or Re-Staining Your Handrail and Risers

Refinishing the current handrails and stairs with a less glossy, more modern satin or matte finish can bring outdated stairs into the 2020s with ease!  Though this can be a little bit more expensive than paint, it does elevate the space nicely and is worth the slightly larger investment.  Ifully refinishing and stripping your stairs and rails is not in the cards for your budgeting, you can give a penny-pinching friendly refresher by opting to just paint parts of them.  Giving your stair risers a white wash and leaving the treads wood is a great modern, fresh look.  Paint your white or wood balusters black to modernize them in the blink of an eye.  Likewise, swapping out a dark railing stain for a paint color in a light grey or white hue can brighten up the space and give things a nice clean feeling.

Option 4: Replacing Balusters or Spindles

If your home has outdated or unsafe wrought iron decorative bars, spindles with overly accentuated knotwork or scroll patterns, or perhaps less than ideal spacing to modern code the good news is that they can be swapped out!  However, this step is best performed by your local professional handrail installer, like Pinto Carpentry, to ensure the new baluster or spindle is installed properly to code and is fully secured to the handrail.  This option is perfect for homes in which the handrail is still in good quality and is a more neutral design, and is way more affordable than installing an entirely new railing system.  Current trends over the last 5 years include Scandinavian design, satin black round metal bars with no footing, satin black rectangular metal bars with square footing, black metal oval panel balusters, black square panel balusters, and horizontal metal bars.  If you’re not sure what would look best in your home, just ask for some sample pictures during your estimate consultation to help guide you.

Option 5: Recapping the Stair Treads

For stairs that have seen better days and show a lot of visible wear and tear but the overall structure is still deemed sound, a tread replacement may serve you well.  Likewise, this is a great option if you aren’t in the market for a full rail, stair, and floor refinishing service, but have outdated shade of stain and less modern finishing.   It can even help reinforce the safety and stability of current stairs thereby extending their life a little longer. Recapping gives you the opportunity to redo your stairs with modern finishes, stains, and even different nosing for a fraction of the cost of a full refinishing or full stair build. This process changes the appearance and functionality of unsafe or outdated treads without damaging the existing original structure.  Your stair installer will measure the stairs and assess their current condition to ensure they’re still structurally sound.  Next, you’ll select from different materials that match or contrast your existing stair risers or flooring.  Your installer will remove current carpet, paint, or runners and prepare the surface to apply a cap over existing stairs.  Each new tread will be cut and shaped to match the existing stair, and a high-grade, extra strong adhesive is applied to the cap which is then doubly secured with nails or screws for maximum durability.  Then your new stair treads will be finished with a final sanding and top coat to match the rest of the rails and risers.

**It’s important to note that stair recapping cannot be done on stairs deemed unstable or showing significant damage as this does not solve all of those underlying issues.  It’s important to hire a professional stair builder and installation company to fully assess the applicability of this option.

Option 6: Replacing Stair Treads

If your staircase has been severely damaged, rotting, or has been deemed overall structurally unsound, a stair tread replacement may be in order.  This is more labor intensive and costly than stair tread recapping, but is still less expensive than a full install.  Your stair installer will completely remove the old, worn treads and install new structurally sound treads over the risers.  On your initial consultation your stair installer will measure and inspect teh current stairs to ensure they have precise numbers and sizing.  On install day they’ll remove existing carpery, runners, or padding from the existing stairs. Next, they’ll pry up the old treads gently from the stringers and risers.  Your installer will also double check that the wood beneath there is sturdy and free of damage before continuing. If all is clear, they’ll move on to dry fitting, which involves placing the custom cut tread on the step riser to ensure a tight fit before the begin final installation.  Installation involves applying a high-grade, professional construction adhesive to the stringer or subtread, then they’ll apply the tread and add any additional nails needed.  Following that replacement, they’ll apply paint or stain or other poly finish coat to protect the wood from wear and tear.  From there you are free to style as you wish with a new carpet or runner of your choosing if you wish!

New Jersey Homeowners can always trust Pinto Carpentry to upgrade their railings and stairs!

If you’re in need of an update to your home’s indoor handrails or stairs, just give Pinto Carpentry a call!  We’ve been in the business over 20 years, and we’ve seen a thing or two (or more!)  We’d love to work with you to find a safe, stylish solution to updating and modernizing your indoor stairs and rails.  Whether it’s selecting a custom handrail, updating your stair treads to more contemporary nosing style, or replacing balusters and newels, we’re here to help!  Let our expert carpenters and installers guide you to finding the perfect materials to suit your budget and aesthetic design desires.

Pinto Carpentry is here to help you modernize your stairs and rails with budget friendly options!

No matter if you need a full staircase replacement, minor repairs, or are just looking to update for cosmetic purposes, we can get the job done!  There’s no job too big or too small, we do it all.  Pinto Carpentry offers free personalized estimates customized to suit any build project.  Our expert carpenters will come and measure your space, collect sample photographs of your inspiration, and our staff will help connect you with the perfect product to suit your project.  We use only the highest quality materials for maximum strength, design, and durability for workmanship you can trust to stand the test of time.

Our crew is available for both residential and commercial build projects, and we service most regions of New Jersey, just ask!