Kitchen update and new stair treads near Hershey, West Hanover Township

Two jobs, one visit

Homeowners around Hershey and the East Shore often call us for one thing and add a second once we are there. This house was a stair job that grew to include the kitchen. Doing both at once saves the setup time and the dust barriers only go up once.

The stairs

A straight, enclosed run between the first and second floor, the most common stair in a suburban colonial. The old treads were worn and the carpet had been off for years.

• New wood treads replaced the old ones. On a straight enclosed run this can be done tread by tread without rebuilding the stringers, as long as the stringers are sound. These were.
• Risers painted white, which makes a closed stair feel lighter and shows off the wood treads.
• Walls patched and painted where the old treads had torn the drywall.

The photo shows the finished run from the bottom, with the walls painted and the treads sealed.

The kitchen

The kitchen is a different style from the white kitchens we build in the city: dark cabinets, a granite island and warm walls. The photo was taken mid-project, with tools on the island, which is honest about where the job was in September. The finished kitchen photo will be added when the owner is ready.

Expert notes

Check the stringers before you buy treads. A tread retrofit is a good value only if the structure under it is straight and solid. We probe and sight every stringer first. If they are shot, it is a rebuild, like our South Philadelphia staircase.

Paint risers, finish treads. Painted risers hide the small gaps that open at the back of a tread over time and they take scuffs from shoes better than stain.

Dark cabinets want more light. A kitchen with dark cabinets needs under-cabinet lighting and good ceiling light or it reads as a cave. We plan the lighting before the cabinet color is final.

Questions we get about jobs like this

Can you replace just the treads? Yes, when the stringers are sound. It costs a fraction of a new staircase and takes a day or two for a straight run.

Will the new treads match our floors? We bring tread samples to the walkthrough. Oak and maple treads can be stained to match most hardwood; for vinyl plank floors we usually pick a close tone rather than chasing an exact match.

Do you need the whole kitchen empty to update it? For cabinet and counter work, yes, for the days we are in there. For paint and lighting, we work around you.

Status

Work in progress, September 2025. If you are in Hershey, Hummelstown or Harrisburg's East Shore and have a stair or a kitchen like this one, our stairs and railings and kitchen remodeling pages explain how we work.