Staircase Challenge: Week 2

Oh golly gee whizz, another week past on the staircase challenge and still painfully little being done here.

I don't feel like I am keeping up with the other ladies at all.

Well the top 3 stairs have now been primed #win

I did spend 3 days in the past week on my knees, with a sander and the living-room floor is looking lover-ley.

At least it is near the stairs!

Before we get to painting the stairs I really needed to try stop them from squeaking.

Having done some research into the matter I had 4 options:

1. Screw from above through the tread and into the riser to eliminate movement - our risers are only 8mm plywood, so that is never going to work.
2. Hammer wedges, shims or packers into any gap to eliminate movement.
3. Caulk all gaps above, and glue all gaps below to eliminate movement.
4. Remove all the braces and replace them, then repeat parts 1, 2 and 3.

I decided to go for options 2 and 3 combined.

So today I rolled my sleeves up and crouched back under the stairs again to get those plastic shims in place. I did my best to get them wedged in by just pushing them, I snapped 4 trying to tap them gently with the hammer. Then I squirted no-more-nails-stylee glue into all the gaps (as recommended on many a you-tube video)

I completed 2 stairs worth before stopping for a cuppa, not before whacking my head off of the underside of the stairs at least 6 times *OUCH*

I'll let this set and see if it has made any difference, if it has worked I should be able to get the rest of them done this week.

Here is what still needs done:

1. Sand back the plaster for the entire stairwell - Well, John's been doing lots of extra work for his proper job so the sanding is progressing at a snail's pace... *screams on the inside*
2. Prime and paint the stairwell walls
3. Fit plastic packers to stop squeaks - Started!
4. Caulk all the gaps - Started!
5. Sand back the filler 
6. Prime the last 3 stairs
7. Fit beading between stringer and the plasterboard
8. Fit beading on corner under-sidey bit - Nailed it! (sorry)
9. Paint the entire staircase (twice)
10. Floor varnish over the painted stairs - not sure we'll need this actually
11. Stick on tread gripy strips - I'm looking into alternatives to these now.

Once again here are the links for the other lovely ladies taking part in this lunacy

Sarah @ The Ugly Duckling House

Micha @ Little Old House
Christine @ Little House on the Corner

Kit @ DIY Diva