New staircase

My sister and brother-in-law were awesome to come down and help us with the next part. It was a big job -- we totally owe them!

There were a few problems with our previous staircase: 1) It was narrow 2) It was extremely creaky 3) We didn't like the turn at the top from the hallway 4) The incline was a little steeper than we'd like

We debated about just reinforcing it and rebuilding the top couple of steps to take the staircase straight up, but this only solved problems # 2 and 3. So, when Brett said rebuilding wouldn't be too much hassle we decided it was worth it to start from scratch. We are so happy we did!

We also opened up the side of the staircase and the two doorways at the bottom.

Stairs before:

After we opened up the side:

Already better!

Next we opened the wall at the bottom of the stairs.

Before:

After the wall was opened up and the stairs removed:

New stairs!

View from the top of the stairs:

Remember what it looked like before?

I love the new staircase. We made the slope a little gentler, the treads wider and deeper and it doesn't creak!

I'll end this with a cute video of Seth helping with the demo. The drywall was hanging by a thread and we had Seth come over and finish the final knock-down. He was SO proud of himself. I wish I would have left the camera running longer because his reaction after was priceless. He puffed up his chest and he was thinking he was pretty macho. So hilarious.

And if you think we are done knocking down walls, you are sorely mistaken, my friends. One more to go!