Hardwood Stairs and Treads in Atlanta, GA
Carpeted Stairs, Rebuilt in Solid Oak.
Stairs are the most-used surface in a house and usually the last thing to get attention. Pulling carpet off a staircase and rebuilding it in solid oak changes a home's entry more than almost any other single project, and it is the job we are asked for most often after someone has refinished their floors.
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Replacing Carpeted Stairs With Hardwood
The job we do most
Carpet-to-hardwood conversion is the most common stair project we take, and what is underneath the carpet determines almost everything about the job.
Most carpeted staircases in Atlanta homes were built with construction-grade treads never meant to be seen: often pine, sometimes plywood, usually with the nosing missing because carpet wrapped the edge. Those aren't floors you can sand and finish. They get capped with new solid oak treads and risers, or replaced outright. Where a tread has split or flexes underfoot, that is a repair before it is a rebuild.
What we assess before quoting: what the existing treads are made of, whether the stringers and framing are sound, whether the staircase is open on one or both sides, how the top and bottom steps meet the floors above and below, and whether the railing is staying.
Related work usually comes up at the same time. If the floor at the top or bottom is being replaced, doing the stairs in the same project means one stain batch and one crew, which is the only reliable way to get new hardwood floors and stairs to actually match.
Treads, Risers, and What Goes Where
The parts, named
Stair work has its own vocabulary, and quotes are easier to compare when you know which part is which.
Tread
Tread
Riser
Riser
Nosing
Nosing
Stringer
Stringer
Balusters
Balusters
Newel post
Newel post
Handrail
Handrail
Red Oak or White Oak for Stair Treads
Material
Both are standard stair-grade stock and both are readily available. The choice usually comes down to what the floor below is, and how you want the finish to read.
Red oak
Stronger, more open grain and a warmer pink undertone. It is what is under most Atlanta homes built before about 2005, so it is usually the match option rather than the design option.
- Grain Open, pronounced
- Undertone Pink to salmon
- Takes gray Poorly, can read mauve
- Cost Lower
White oak
Tighter grain, slightly harder, neutral-to-brown undertone. Takes gray, natural and light finishes far more cleanly, which is why nearly every new build uses it.
- Grain Tight, even
- Undertone Olive to brown
- Takes gray Cleanly
- Cost Higher
Solid Hardwood Stair Treads vs. Retrofit Stair Caps
Which option is best?
A full solid tread replaces the existing tread entirely. A retrofit cap goes over the existing structural tread, a thinner piece made for carpet-to-wood conversions. Caps cost less and work well when the structure underneath is sound. Full replacement is the answer when it is not, and we will tell you which you have after looking.
Maple, hickory, and walnut are available too, and are typically chosen to match an existing floor rather than for the stairs themselves. Species choice on a new floor usually settles it.
Staircases We Rebuilt This Year
Recent stair work
We finished four staircases between April and July 2026, and photographed each on site. We noted the species, finish, and what was under the carpet for each one.
Railings, Balusters, and Newel Posts
The other half of the job
Railing work is often what makes a staircase look finished rather than partially done, and it is a separate decision from the treads. Worth settling before the treads go in, not after.
Handrails
Wood
Oak or painted poplar, matched to the tread stain or to the trim, depending on which you want the eye to follow.
Turned balusters
Wood
Traditional profiles or square-top styles. The right call in older homes where the rest of the millwork is period.
Iron balusters
Iron
The more common Atlanta request for several years now, particularly twisted and basket patterns. Often retrofitted into an existing railing.
Newel posts
Structural
At the top, bottom and any turn. These carry the load of the railing, so they are not a cosmetic choice.
Cable railing
Modern
For contemporary staircases and open-plan landings where the point is to not block the view.
Landings and returns
Carpentry
Where a staircase turns or opens to a room. Open sides need finished returns, which is real added work on the quote.
Matching Stairs to the Floor They Land On
The mistake we get called to fix
The most common stair mistake is finishing the stairs separately from the floors and hoping they match. They rarely do.
Stair treads are milled from different stock than flooring, often at different thicknesses and sometimes from a different lot. Stain applied to a tread absorbs differently than the same stain on a floor board, because the surfaces are sanded to different grits and the wood density varies. Two projects run months apart with the same stain code often end up looking visibly different.
When floors and stairs are done together, we sand and stain them in the same sequence with the same batch, and sample both surfaces side by side before committing. When stairs are added to existing floors, we sample directly on your floor and match it, and we will tell you honestly how close we expect to get. A deliberate contrast, such as white risers with a darker tread, is often a better outcome than a near-match that reads as a mistake. Recent staircases are in our photographed work.
Refinishing Existing Hardwood Stairs
Already hardwood?
Stairs that are already hardwood can usually be refinished, and the work differs from floor refinishing in ways that affect both price and schedule.
Stairs are sanded largely by hand. You can't run a drum sander across a tread, so the work is done with edgers, detail sanders, and hand scraping around balusters and returns. That makes stair refinishing labor-intensive per square foot compared with open floor, which is exactly why stairs are priced per step.
The practical constraint is access. A staircase being refinished is out of service while coats cure, which matters far more in a two-story home with one staircase. We often stage the work in halves so one side stays walkable, though it extends the timeline. We often do stairs alongside a whole-floor sand and finish so the entire house cures to one color.
Stair Work Across Metro Atlanta
Where we work
Twelve cities across metro Atlanta fall inside the reach of our Alpharetta showroom, from new-build stair installs in Alpharetta and Milton to repair work on older subfloors in-town and in Brookhaven, where more prep goes into leveling and squaring before any tread goes down.
Stair and Tread Questions from Atlanta Homeowners
Stair questions
How much does it cost to replace carpet on stairs in Atlanta?
Stairs are priced per step rather than per square foot, because most of the labor is hand work. What moves the number: whether the staircase is open on one side or both, whether existing treads can be capped or need full replacement, and whether railings are in scope. We quote in writing after seeing the staircase.
How long does a staircase take?
Most residential staircases run three to five days including finishing time, though it depends on the number of steps and whether railings are being replaced. The staircase is out of service while finish cures, and we will tell you exactly which days that affects before we start.
Can you match new stairs to my existing hardwood floors?
What is the difference between red oak and white oak for treads?
Red oak has an open, pronounced grain and a warmer pink undertone. White oak is tighter-grained, slightly harder, and has a neutral-to-brown undertone that takes gray, natural and light finishes more cleanly. White oak costs more. Both are standard stair-grade material.
Can you just refinish the stairs and leave my floors alone?
Yes, and it is a common request. The consideration is color: stairs refinished separately from floors may not land at exactly the same shade. If the stairs and floors meet at a visible transition we will sample carefully. If they are visually separated, matching is much easier.
Do you replace stair railings and balusters too?
Yes, handrails, wood and iron balusters, newel posts, landings and cable railing. Railing work is often what makes a rebuilt staircase look finished rather than half-done, and it is worth deciding on before the treads go in.
Will hardwood stairs be too slippery for my dog?
They will have less grip than carpet. Choosing satin or matte rather than gloss helps, and a runner down the center of the staircase is the most effective solution. It preserves the look of the wood at the edges while giving pets traction. Worth planning for before the job rather than after.
