Because it's never THAT easy

I had a simple plan for today – tear out the carpet on the hallway stairs. Then voila – hardwood floors to enjoy.

Here's what I didn't know, when I started this project:

- This carpet runner, is nothing but scraps. Each stair is its own piece of carpet, which equals 3 tac strips per step and at least 50 staples per stair.

- While I pulled on some carpet to make sure the wood was okay, apparently the spot I looked at was a fluke – the wood is unfinished.

- The unfinished wood is blessed with random paint spots all over it.

So you can witness the joy:

Because of the extreme amount of staples, each stair is taking about an hour to do. My hands are swollen and hurt to move – I am so done for the night. This is how far Brent and I got.


So, the new plan (which hopefully includes having this mofo done by our housewarming party on the 21st):

- Tear off the rest of the carpet and de-staple the stairs (Monday and Tuesday)

- Sand the stairs – this will help the paint situation I have going on and it will also rough up the finished paint of the stairs (Wednesday)

- Stain the stairs (Friday night)

- Paint the back of the stairs white (Sunday)

I have never stained anything before, and I have to admit that I'm slightly terrified. But I guess if it's terrible, it can always be sanded done again.