cast-ironstairswood
We have a nice old staircase with iron balustrades.
But at the bottom of each is some horrible fixing, we are unsure what it is for – maybe a build of paint as the stairs were painted at one point in the past from previous owners.
Does anyone know what it is and if it can be safely scraped away?
First of all, since it sounds like this could be considered "occupied space", you better check your local building codes and/or with your local inspector to see what is allowed. Most codes have specific requirements for stairs, and in some jurisdictions strange things like spiral stair cases may not be allowed or may require specific approval because of their narrow treads.
I'd definitely look to see if there is any way to get more space at all. For example, what is behind the closet? If you can lose a bit of ceiling height there, you could get a bit more room for the staircase. Likewise, is it acceptable to have the stairs coming out into the room at all? This too, will provide a bit more space. Using this calculator, if you can do 10 rises of 8" (this may be steep though), you need 6'8" of total run space.
Depending on the adjoining space, you might also be able to make use of the room under the stairs.
If you can't get any extra space, you might consider a "ladder staircase" (kind of a hybrid of ladders and stairs):
There are some interesting designs for these, including alternating treads:
And some really funky variations if you want to be really creative:
Skirt boards are one of the hardest things in my opinion to do. I can rip apart a bathroom and have it put back together in 2-3 days and it might take me the same amount of time to make a couple of long stair skirts. All of your stairs wont be the exact same measurements, walls are not perfectly flat... One of the things that I source out now for sure.
The short answer is it depends. If the staircase will be carpeted or if there is no overhang on the treads then the answer is tread first. Basically this is faster because your treads don't have to be perfect. Also your skirt doesn't have to be perfect.
If your stairs will be showing the treads or if there is an overhang I would suggest installing the skirt and then the treads. This will give you a cleaner look. Also good luck notching out the skirt to match all of the overhangs on the tread if you decided to do it last.
Best Answer
Yes you can clean it up, but hopefully what is under it looks better that what you see now.
It looks like somebody's sloppy caulk job.