New House Reno Update - The Stairway

Remember this horror?

This was definitely the scariest part of the house to tackle because not only is it the stairwell, which presented challenges in how to reach everything, but it was also the most difficult to fix besides the concrete.  

We tossed around whether or not to just replace the drywall and start anew but decided that once we stripped the wallpaper and glue correctly it wasn't as bad as it looked.

    To start, we used a steamer and scraper to gently steam and remove the remaining wallpaper.  

We discovered as we went, that a lot of the fuzzy, yellowish stuff on the walls was actually just the wallpaper backing of glue that was not all the way removed.  Some of the areas that had drywall joint compound on them were also just areas where they could not get the wallpaper off so they had tried to skim-coat over it.  Most of these areas of compound were thin enough that they scraped right off with the steamer and scraper method and the glue came with it leaving a smooth wall behind.  

In order to be able to reach everything, my husband and step-dad built scaffolding into the stairwell and screwed it right into the sub-floor at the top of the stairs.  While this made it difficult to get back and forth, it provided sturdy footing for the long hours of work the stairwell required.

Because we had painting and repairs going on downstairs, we put plastic across the open part of the stairwell to keep the sanding dust from spreading through the rest of the house.

There were still some areas of the wall where they had taken the outer paper of the drywall off that did need to be skim-coated.  This big part of the wall was pretty badly damaged but my husband did such a wonderful job with the repairs.

Once the upper portion of the wall was scraped, repaired, primed and painted, the scaffolding was removed and the lower portion was finished.  A long roller brush pole helped finish the spots where the scaffolding had rested against the walls.

This is the most badly damaged wall after its final coat of paint (more Valspar Signature "Silver Leaf" in satin finish) - I can't even believe it looks this great!

My husband sanded and stained the handrail to match the other stained wood in the house and put it back up with new oil-rubbed bronze brackets.

New light fixtures at the top and bottom of the stairs finish the look and brighten the space.

After loving the stain in the fireplace room so much, we decided to give it a try on the wainscoting in the hallway upstairs too and the result is fantastic. 

And a look at the bottom of the stairs with the "Retro-Colonial Blue" carried through from the living room wall.  Carpet will be installed on the stairs and landing to finish it off.  :)  What do you think?