Rachel and Paul Riding's Victorian staircase

 

We live in a flat as part of a Victorian building, but one which hadn't been very carefully converted with much of the original features, although not ripped out, they were damaged and had been badly treated.  We hoped the handrail was the original as the same rail went through the house, our ground floor neighbours had restored theirs about 20 years ago so we were hoping we would be able to do the same.

 

Mark was able to tell us straight away as he stripped a small area that it was mahogany but later found it was done in pieces with some walnut and the corners mahogany.

 

The wood had been badly treated, painted in parts with emulsion, other parts were done in pink undercoat and then layers and layers of gloss and also nailed!  The stripping did take some time but as the wood became exposed we knew how beautiful it would become. Mark stripped and sanded layer after layer and  then was able to find the perfect stain which blended with the two types of wood and was a colour we were looking for as we didn't want it too dark.  

 

I had been told when the polishing is finished it would look like glass and it does!!  Mark was meticulous with the care he took to bring out the perfect colour and then the polish.

 

The rail is the centre piece of our home.  We were decorating right the way through the hall, including new furniture but always knew as we had a lot of stairs, we wanted the stairs to draw the attention as the wood is so beautiful and we are thoroughly delighted with our staircase; it was the finishing touch to restoring our grand hallway to its former glory.

 

Mrs Rachel Riding