MITRE CONTRACTING, INC.

Stairway and Railing Renovation

Boxed Stairs to Open Stairs

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 Small foyer stairway that we remodeled from a boxed stair tread design to an open tread design.

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BEFORE PICTURES

  

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Scope Of Work:

• Modify existing treads to accept new solid 5/4" oak treads and oak risers
• Modify existing stringer to accept new stair treads, risers and brackets
• Add new outside stair stringer and mouldings
• Add oak newel posts and railings... "Over The Post" Design
• Primed 5015 balusters - balusters & newel posts are all bolted into the treads / floor joist
• Stain and polyurethane new oak stair treads, risers, newels and railing

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One side note: Please notice that the stair treads are actual treads... not hardwood flooring! Whoever you choose to have your stairway renovated with, make sure they use the proper methods and materials. I have seen far too many stairways just covered over with harwood flooring, which in the end looks like you have a stairway covered over with hardwood flooring! When we are finished with our stairway improvements and retreads, they look just like new stairs. You should not be able to tell they were ever re-done. We ONLY use real solid 5/4" thick oak treads, and real solid oak risers not plywood verniers (or hardwood flooring).

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     See more Railing and Stairway Remodels on our Before and After Pages:  HERE   under the Balustrades, Bannisters, Stairways, Stair Railings Section  Or look in our Stairways & Balustrades Album

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 If you would like us to quote you a price on renovating your stairway or railings in your home, please don't hesitate to CONTACT US anytime. We will be glad to come out, take measurements, discuss your ideas, offer some of our own, and hopefully work together to improve the quality and value of your  home.

Thank You, Roger Beesley

Please call us at  703-330-3486, or email us here ,

 

Curved Stairway Renovation

This blog posting features a curved staircase remodel project we just completed in Ashburn, VA.

The original curved staircase had carpeted treads and risers that were made from standard builder grade pine and plywood materials.

The scope of work included removing the existing carpet, removing the old treads and risers and replacing them with custom made solid oak stair treads and solid oak risers and decorative brackets.

The new oak treads, risers and brackets were then hand sanded, stained and finished to match the existing hardwood flooring.

The handrails were not replaced as the original railing were in great shape and looked fine. The bannister was disassembled as needed and rebuilt.

 Note also that the balusters were reinstalled by bolting each one into the new oak treads. Previously they had only been sitting in a drilled out hole and nailed in with brad nails.

BEFORE PICTURES:

 
 
 

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AFTER PICTURES:

 
 

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DURING INSTALLATION PICTURES

 
 

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When upgrading a carpeted stairway to oak, you need to clarify the scope of work with the contractor you choose. There are a lot of flooring companies that simply cover over the existing treads with hardwood flooring and nosings... leaving you with a set of stairs that looks like someone installed hardwood flooring up the stairs! Another thing to consider, is do you want a hardwood flooring company re-installing your handrails?

We install actual custom made solid stair treads... not hardwood flooring. We install solid risers not verniers or hardwood flooring. We have years and years of railing fabrication and installation experience in order to re-install your existing stair railings or brand new updated railings.  Quite a few of our customers update the railings at the same time as the stair-treads. Wrought iron balusters seem to be  in demand these last few years.  Your newly re-treaded stairway should look just exactly like an original stairway... not a renovated one.

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Custom Curved Stair Treads fabricated and installed by Mike Hart of IKCO Construction, Inc. Located in Alexandria, VA

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Please call us anytime 703-330-3486, or email us, and let us provide you with a free in home consultation and free no obligation price quote for your next home improvement project. We service the entire Northern Virginia area and all the surrounding counties.

Thank You, Roger Beesley, Mitre Contracting, Inc.

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Fill out our CONTACT FORM for your free quote on a new mantel, built-in or moulding installation!

Interior Finish Carpentry in Virginia

This posting features a few pictures of some custom interior finsh carpentry trim work we completed awhile back. The home is located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Custom maple cabinetry with granite counters and stainless appliances

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Foyer Staircase with curved treads and railings

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Looking down the curved oak railings. This features 6010 oak rails, 5015 painted balusters and is a "post-to-post" design style bannister

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Fireplace mantel with a matching surround feature. This fireplace surround utilizes standard mouldings to mimic the mantel construction.

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  Another view of the fireplace moldings. The surround iplasters extend to the ceiling and are wrapped in the crown molding that trims out the entire living room.

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  This wainscoting for this powder room is 36" high, features a real tongue and groove pine beadboard capped with a two piece chair rail.

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Here you see a close up of the three piece crown moulding. This is made up from two pieces of a 4" baseboard used as backer with a piece of 4 5/8" crown moulding.

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Please call us anytime 703-330-3486, or email us, and let us provide you with a free in home consultation and free no obligation price quote for your next home improvement project. We service the entire Northern Virginia area and all the surrounding counties.

Thank You, Roger Beesley, Mitre Contracting, Inc.

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Fill out our CONTACT FORM for your free quote on a new mantel, built-in or moulding installation!

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Garden Shed Project

Just a few pictures showing a small garden shed construction project we completed this last summer, for a homeowner in Fairfax Virginia. We also built a small platform deck as part of the deal.

This shed featured typical 2x4 framing for the walls and roof system, 2x8 pressure treated framing for the floor system, PVC board for all the cornice/trim, vinyl siding and windows... all matching the existing home.

Custom made PVC door with metal edgings

 We also built a small ramp from PT materials

Interior View showing the 2x4 framework and 1/2" plywood sheathing

Small 8x8 PT deck with Trex decking.

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Fill out our CONTACT FORM for your free quote on your next home renovation project!

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Office # 703-330-3486      Cell # 703-615-3077

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Please call us anytime 703-330-3486, or email us, and let us provide you with a free in home consultation and free no obligation price quote for your next home improvement project. We service the entire Northern Virginia area and all the surrounding counties.

Thank You, Roger Beesley, Mitre Contracting, Inc.

Wrought Iron Railings

Here we show off a nice oak balustrade system that features black wrought iron balusters.

We used an alternating layout, consisting of balusters with double knuckles and balusters with single baskets.

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CALL US @ : 703-330-3486 OR MY CELL @ 703-615-3077

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Please click the pictures to enlarge them in a separate window and also you can hover over the picture for descriptions

 

 

 

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FILL OUT OUR CONTACT FORM HERE

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If you would like us to come out and take a look at your stairs to quote you a price and give you some ideas on how to improve your old railings or stair treads, please don't hesitate to call us or email us anytime. All estimates and consultations are free of charge.

Thank You,

Roger Beesley

Mitre Contracting, Inc.

 

Ceiling Beams

Here we feature some ceiling beams for a family room with a cathedral ceiling. We had previously fabricated and installed some built-in cabinetry for this homeowner, and he took our advice and added these beams that were designed to match the built-in bookcases.

The ceiling beams are constructed from 1x6 pine material, with beaded moulding accents along the edges. Then each beam is trimed with a medium sized crown moulding.

 

Notice the built-in bookcase units in the background.  Here you can see pictures of the built-in bookcases and mantel project

 

Fill out our CONTACT FORM for your free quote on a new mantel, built-in or moulding installation!

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Office # 703-330-3486 Cell # 703-615-3077

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Thank You,

Roger Beesley

Crown Molding, Chair Rail, Wainscoting Article

Interesting article on the use of moldings to enhance and beautify your home. Brings out some good points that we have espoused all along.

Who says that crown molding or chair rail is only for the Living room, Dining room and Foyer?

Interior Products Review... Mouldings

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This picture shows a nice paint grade wainscoting with a double raised panel design.

See more of this project on this page

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If you live in and around the Northern Virginia region and are interested in adding mouldings to your home... please contact us anytime for your free in home consultation and no obligation price quote

Roger Beesley,

Mitre Contracting, Inc.

Window Seat, Archway, Columns, Wainscoting

Here we show off a few pictures of a nice archway and columns with recessed panels. This archway was made to surround a window seat built-in that we also constructed

 

The arch features recessed panels, applied curved panel mouldings, a keystone detail, all wrapped in a 3 5/8" crown that continues through out the room.

The columns also feature recessed panels and crown molding. We also applied some panel moulding shadowboxes in the window seat area for more interest.

   

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This was just part of a whole room renovation project / makeover. This bedroom improvement project also included the removal of a stippled ceiling, a double framed paneled beadboard wainscoting, custom painting with glazed accents, new electrical outlets, switches and cover plates.

Please contact or call us anytime for a free in home consultation and estimate for your next home improvement project.

Thank You, Roger Beesley

Wainscoting with Raised Panels

Today's blog features some pictures of a room renovation project that includes an elegant wainscot with double raised panels.

The wainscoting is around 42" high and has an 8" tall raised  panel, over a 21" tall raised panel. The wainscot is then capped off with a two piece build up of mouldings.This wainscot project started with the framework. It consists of a 1x4 primed pine, glued and pocket screwed together. Each wall was made as a single unit consisting of many evenly divided spaces for the panels. These were then applied to the walls with construction adhesive and nailed into the studs and bottom plate. All the wainscotings individual 3/4" thick MDF panels were then fabricated in the shop, then applied to the walls in their appropriate spaces. Each panel was then trimmed out with a small 3/8" "sticking" molding. The wainscot was capped off with a modified sill molding and a nice small panel molding for an apron. We then caulked, puttied, primed and painted all the new woodworking.

 

CLOSE UP PICTURES... click to enlarge full size

Another phase of this room makeover was the removal of the "stippled" ceiling. It was scraped and skimmed over with several coats of easy sand 90. Also notice the nice ceiling molding treatment we installed. It consists of a single run of panel molding with stepped corners. This was then painted in a slightly different color which really sets it off nicely. There is also a one piece crown moulding... something that should never be missing in a room with wainscoting!

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SOME BEFORE PICTURES... click to enlarge

 

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Please call us anytime 703-330-3486, or email us, and let us provide you with a free in home consultation and free no obligation price quote for your next home improvement project. Whether it's wainscoting such as this, crown moulding, chair railing or built-in cabinetry, we can give your house that model home look. We service the entire Northern Virginia area and all the surrounding counties.

Thank You, Roger Beesley, Mitre Contracting, Inc.

Paneled Beadboard Wainscoting

Here we highlight some pictures of double paneled beadboard wainscoting. This was part of a home improvement that included this bedroom makeover project we just completed in June 2010.

This wainscot treatment consisted of a 1x4 framework all pocket screwed together, forming the 48" high double paneled system. This was then placed on top of 1/4" primed beadboard sheetgoods.  Each individual panel section was trimmed out in a nice basecap panel moulding. Then the wainscot was capped off with a two piece chair rail molding.

It was given a custom paint job with glazed accents. Also we rebuilt a window seat unit in the dormer niche area. This features recessed column pilasters and archway.

We also changed out all the old painted outlets, switches and cover plates with new ones.

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As always... you can click any picture to enlarge it in a separate window

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AFTER

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BEFORE PICTURES OF BEDROOM... click to enlarge

   

Notice the old stippled drywall ceilings. We had them scraped and then skim coated a few times to be smooth again.

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More Pictures

 

 

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Please call us anytime 703-330-3486, or email us, and let us provide you with a free in home consultation and free no obligation price quote for your next home improvement project. We service the entire Northern Virginia area and all the surrounding counties.

Thank You, Roger Beesley, Mitre Contracting, Inc.