Removing carpet from stairs and replacing it with wood stair treads is a very doable do-it-yourself project. This DIY staircase makeover took less than 2 full days and looks like a professional job!
We started by ripping out the old carpet and carpet pad. That part wasn't bad. Removing the tack strips and staples was a lot less fun, but it moved relatively quickly. The entire “demo” step took about 4 man-hours.
Next up was a whole lot of staining. You can order prefinished treads, but we chose unfinished Red Oak so that we can stain it ourselves to match the laminate flooring we had used throughout our house.
We also painted the stair risers. They come primed, which is awesome! We opted for black stair risers, which required 2 necessary coats for good coverage, but it moved really quickly.