ᐅ Upgrading a Staircase in a Older Property for Long-Term Use

Hello everyone,

None of my friends or colleagues can (or want to) offer me any ideas, so I thought I’d introduce myself here.

On June 19, 2019, I inherited my grandmother’s two-family house (built in 1976) as a gift (mainly due to family disputes regarding the inheritance, etc. – because of the compulsory portion compensation claim, it won’t be financially easy for me in the end, but that’s another topic) and have gradually moved into the ground floor with my dog.

The first step was installing a welded wire fence around the land/garden behind the house, which I did together with my father. We also converted the old barn into a garage (with a sectional door) and carried out some small renovation works here and there (renewing the bathroom, replacing lamps, etc. – minor things).

However, the main topic this year is the staircase (even before the facade). I have been told what it looked like before and what has been done.

About 10 years ago, the staircase you see attached below was fully tiled (by a professional tiler – image 0081 still shows a small baseboard on the side of the stairs, which was left as it was). From what I remember, it looked quite decent. But of course, it did not hold up because water apparently penetrated everywhere, froze in winter, and then the tiles chipped off one by one.

Afterward, the husband of the other daughter took care of it, removed the remaining tiles, and apparently painted it with some kind of “plastic coating” (liquid plastic used as a floor covering). It seems it was not applied properly, as you can see in the pictures. Someone with more experience can probably assess it better, but my guess is water also penetrated here (or the application neglected this), and it flaked off when freezing occurred.

Anyway, now the question is what I could do here. As you might expect, I would prefer a solution that allows me to finish the staircase and have peace of mind for a few decades (especially considering everything else that still needs to be done on this place).

Thanks in advance and best regards,
Constantin

I covered my outdoor stairs with high-quality, slip-resistant tiles (only the treads). They still look like new.

It should be permanently clad with natural stone.

Chisel out the entire ugly staircase and rebuild it as desired.
Is this really a solid block?
More than just the paint is clearly coming off there, so you can’t properly tile on it either.

apokolok schrieb:

Chisel out the entire ugly staircase and rebuild it to your liking.
Is it really a solid block?
More than just the paint is clearly coming off, so you can’t properly tile on that.

That was also my first thought. Personally, I don’t find the staircase itself worth preserving and would replace it with a durable outdoor staircase, perhaps one that looks a bit more open, and that stylistically fits the newly renovated or redesigned house.

Thank you very much for all the input. It’s best to have this done by a professional company with an appropriate warranty. The priority here is to consider the staircase as a completed project for both the near and distant future, so I can focus on the many other aspects of the house.

Regards