princesshanh Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 I don’t want to use the stairs because they take up too much space in the living room. What can I use to fill the stair hole in the fllor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeB Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 (edited) I eliminated the stairs in my first house. I cut a piece of wood of the approximate thickness of the structural floor and as close to the dimensions of the opening as I could and glued it into the hole. (If you don't have tools that can handle cutting solid wood or plywood, you can get balsa wood at any hobby supply store or even use foam core.)To even out the surfaces, you can just fill the gaps with wood paste or spackle and sand it down. In order to hold everything in place and make sure that it didn't show, I added an additional decorative surface to the ceiling of the ground floor and the floor of the upstairs. For the ceiling, I cut a piece of mat board the size of the room and glued it in place. For the upstairs floor, I just glued the hardwood effect paper down and varnished over the whole thing. No one has even asked where the stairs are and it gives me lots more floor space. Edited October 6, 2020 by LeeB addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princesshanh Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 1 hour ago, LeeB said: I eliminated the stairs in my first house. I cut a piece of wood of the approximate thickness of the structural floor and as close to the dimensions of the opening as I could and glued it into the hole. (If you don't have tools that can handle cutting solid wood or plywood, you can get balsa wood at any hobby supply store or even use foam core.)To even out the surfaces, you can just fill the gaps with wood paste or spackle and sand it down. In order to hold everything in place and make sure that it didn't show, I added an additional decorative surface to the ceiling of the ground floor and the floor of the upstairs. For the ceiling, I cut a piece of mat board the size of the room and glued it in place. For the upstairs floor, I just glued the hardwood effect paper down and varnished over the whole thing. No one has even asked where the stairs are and it gives me lots more floor space. thank you!! i’ll look into balsa wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 (edited) Like Lee said, you can also use foam core (easy to cut with a utility knife & steel straight edge), smooth spackle over the seams and sand it flat, and cover the ceiling & floor to hide the patch job. Edited October 6, 2020 by havanaholly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kells Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Lee and Holly both mentioned foam board so I'll add my experience with that. I've used it a number of times to block window openings and stairwell openings. I had one house with the stairs right in front of the front door. I moved the stairs to the side, which required cutting a new stairwell opening and filling in the old one. 3/16" foam board is cheap, readily available at craft stores, and is easy to cut. Gluing two 3/16" thick pieces cut to size makes it 3/8" thick, the same as many dollhouse walls and floors. By the time you cover filled-in window/door openings with siding outside and wallpaper inside, you'd never know there was an opening there. Same with stairwells or interior door openings for that matter, which I've repositioned more times than I can remember. The ceiling paper underneath and the flooring on top holds it into place perfectly. Some of mine are years old and they have never buckled or sagged - even with furniture on top! - and the seams remain completely invisible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 When I want to add extra walls for rooms, foam board covered with scrapwood or wallpaper hinges easily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriethehan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) I used foam board because it was the easiest to cut. The basswood strip I also purchased was only 3" wide which was a bit too narrow for the opening, so I'll save that for something else. Flooring covers the topside of the hole and I'll use ceiling tile sheets to cover the bottom side and any electrical tape covering the wires. Now I have 3 extra rooms to use! Edited December 5, 2020 by carriethehan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriethehan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Here is a picture of my front opening 3-story Hofco federal Victorian without the staircases. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mid-life madness Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 5 hours ago, carriethehan said: Here is a picture of my front opening 3-story Hofco federal Victorian without the staircases. Lovely! You should start an album, we love eye candy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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