A staircase that’s actually solid — not just repainted.

Most Atlanta-area stair remodels run $2,900–$4,800 for a straight staircase with new oak treads and painted white risers — that’s our typical baseline, not a fixed menu price. The actual number moves with the shape and scope of your specific stairs: a curved or spiral run costs more to engineer and build than a straight one, and anything beyond the tread-and-riser baseline — new newel posts, a full handrail replacement, or swapping out the balusters — is priced as its own line item on top. Straightforward repairs (re-securing loose treads, fixing a squeak, respacing balusters for code) usually cost less than a full remodel. Because shape and scope vary this much project to project, we don’t hold ourselves — or you — to a number pulled off a website. Every proposal is written and itemized for your actual stairs after we’ve seen them, so you can see exactly what’s driving the price. Ask to check our math against any bid you’re comparing, including ours.

Squeaks almost always come from stringers that aren’t perfectly even, or treads that rest on only part of the stringer instead of bearing evenly across all of them. A cosmetic fix — new treads glued over the same uneven frame — can squeak again within months, sometimes faster than the original stairs did. Our process checks and shims every stringer before a single tread goes down, so each step beds solid across its full width instead of rocking on a high point. We block and screw rather than relying on glue and nails alone, since adhesive by itself tends to loosen as wood moves with humidity. At the final walkthrough, we walk every step with you — up and down, edges included — specifically to confirm there’s no movement or noise before we consider the job done. If something develops later, that’s a structural issue, not a normal break-in period, and we address it.

Often, yes. Stairs are a life-safety egress path, so replacing or substantially altering one typically requires a permit and has to meet current baluster-spacing and rise-and-run code, even if the work looks purely cosmetic from the top. This catches homeowners off guard most often when a different project — a kitchen remodel, a basement finish, a whole-house renovation — happens to touch the stairs and triggers a code review nobody budgeted for. We’ve seen that surprise add real cost and time to projects that were only supposed to touch what’s visible. We flag whether your project is likely to trigger a permit during the initial consultation, before you sign anything, and we handle the permit and inspection process directly rather than leaving you to navigate the county office alone. If your project doesn’t require a permit, we’ll tell you that too.

Georgia follows the international residential code baluster-spacing rule: no gap in a guardrail or stair railing can allow a 4-inch sphere to pass through, which is designed to keep a small child from slipping through or getting a head caught between balusters. Georgia officially adopted the 2024 International Residential Code with state amendments, effective January 1, 2026, per the Georgia Department of Community Affairs’ construction codes page, which sets this same rule statewide. That sounds simple, but the common mistake is calculating spacing based on the number of balusters rather than the actual gap between them — forgetting to account for the width of the baluster itself creates gaps that measure too wide and fail inspection. Guardrails on open sides of stairs generally need to be at least 34 to 38 inches high, measured from the tread nose, and handrails have their own separate height and graspability requirements. We calculate baluster layout to the actual code numbers before ordering material, not after installation, so you’re not paying twice to fix a spacing mistake. If you’re preparing for a re-inspection, we can assess your existing railing against these numbers directly.

In most cases, yes, at least partially — but it depends on what stage of the project you’re in and whether your stairs are the only path between floors. Cosmetic work like refinishing or a baluster swap can often be sequenced so you have a usable staircase at the end of each work day, sometimes with a temporary safe path while treads cure. A full structural rebuild — new stringers, a complete tread-and-riser replacement — usually means the stairs are out of use for at least part of the timeline, since adhesives and fasteners need real curing time to hold weight safely, not just look finished. We walk through exactly what access you’ll have, day by day, during the consultation, so you can plan around it instead of discovering a blocked staircase the morning work starts. If a single staircase is your only way upstairs, tell us early so we can sequence the work accordingly.

Timeline depends heavily on scope. Cosmetic updates — refinishing, a baluster swap, a handrail replacement — typically take one to two days of active work. A standard carpet-to-hardwood conversion or full tread-and-riser replacement usually runs about a week of on-site labor. More involved projects that touch rails, balusters, and structural elements together often need one to two weeks. Custom or structurally engineered designs — floating stairs, curved runs, anything requiring an engineer’s sign-off — can take several weeks to a couple of months once you count design, permitting, and fabrication lead time, not just installation days. From your first consultation to a finished, walked-through staircase, most straightforward remodels complete in two to six weeks total, including the proposal and any permit turnaround. We give you a specific timeline in writing as part of the fixed-price proposal, not just a range, so you know what to plan around before work starts.

Both have a real safety trade-off, and the honest answer depends on your household. Hardwood looks cleaner and shows wear less than most carpet, but a smooth finished tread can be genuinely slippery, especially for anyone with balance concerns, aging joints, or young kids in socks. Carpet adds traction and cushions a fall, but it also hides what’s happening underneath — worn or shifting stringers, loose fasteners — until the problem is advanced enough to show up as a squeak or a visible sag. If safety for aging-in-place or small children is the priority, we can spec a non-slip finish, a stair runner over hardwood, or textured tread nosing that keeps most of the hardwood look without the slip risk. If the concern is more about resale or matching a renovated main floor, hardwood with proper anti-slip finishing is usually the better long-term choice. We’ll walk through your specific household before recommending either direction.