I doubt they used anything other than cheap under your carpet, especially if it was glued down. We just had a gajillion staples.

I was going to keep the risers and just face them with 1/8" plywood, but ended up ripping out everything and putting in oak treads and painted poplar risers.

To the OP, maybe you could start saving for this project, esp. when you see what a difference the right job makes. Do you have any family that are carpenters?

Last Fall I pulled the carpet off of my own stairs. I had a better situation than weedyacres to start with, because my stairs all have a nice "overhang" on the treads.

I removed all of the staples and then sanded each step with an electric sander. Of course the sanding made a huge mess, but we had drywall dust everywhere at that time anyway. I'm not sure the sanding was necessary so you might want to be guided by your concern over the sanding dust.

The next step was to create a smooth finish on the pine by using a floor filler compound. This stuff just fills in all the staple and nail holes and all of the many grooves that are naturally in the rough pine. It's very easy to apply and drys in 30 minutes.

I used a good oil based stain blocker/primer which dries in a half hour. I painted the risers with a regular white wall paint.

Finally, Benjamin Moore color matched the Butterscotch Oak floor I had just installed in my living room. I bought a gallon of their floor paint, which was about $75. The floor paint is super thin so it was necessary to put three coats on the treads. Even with three generous coats, I think I used less than a pint to do 6 treads.

The beauty of the BM floor paint is that you can walk on it after 30 minutes. When I say you can walk on it, I mean you won't track the paint anywhere. It's like the paint is totally bonded to the stair surface in a half hour. BUT, the top side of the paint, remains tacky for as long as a week. This means you can walk on it, but it grabs every single thing off the bottom of your shoes and holds it. It pulls the fibers right off of your socks. Obviously whatever it grabs, is going to remain in the paint, discoloring it and affecting the finish.

A lot of people will use a quarter round molding to cover the gaps between the tread and riser, etc. I hate quarter round. I just filled in the gaps with the floor filler and I think it looks fine as it is.

I estimated it would cost me about $100 per stair to put hardwood treads and risers on. I thought if I used good hardwood, I'd end up covering most of it with a runner, to protect the wood. If I was going to use a runner anyway, I thought I'd try the paint, because so little of the stair would show. Well, I never expected the paint to hold up to our traffic. Now that it's been three months and there is no sign of any wear, I'm thinking of skipping the runner. I LOVE the painted stairs and I love not having to use a runner.

You'll see some scuff marks on the risers. I never understood why I heard people talking about this problem, as I was sure my feet NEVER touch those risers. Guess what? Your HEELS hit the risers when you are walking down the stairs. I will be repainting the risers soon. The scuff marks you see, happened when the paint was not fully cured.

Finally, my stairs are practically orange. They are a perfect match to my oak floor, but the color looks strange when it is paint. I may change the color at some point.

There are some amazing GW stair transformations on here - weedy acres, your stairs are stunning!

I would love to re-do all 3 of my staircases, but with 37 steps and over 100 balusters, I'm looking at major bucks...

and Downsouth - I unfortunately do not have any carpenters in my family...my DH is VERY handy though, but this is a huge job.

Cindyloo...your painted stairs look fabulous, I remember that picture from a previous post of yours.

I think I'll just have to suck it up a few more years...I really need to replace the carpet downstairs with hardwood first...just thought I could sneak a stair re-do in somehow.

I think when considering your options it makes a big difference whether your balusters are set into the treads. No matter which way you go, those balusters are going to make twice the amount of work.

Paint is a quick, easy, inexpensive way to get carpet off the stairs. And I would not hesitate to paint the subfloor on your landing as well. If you use a large area rug, no one is likely to pay much attention to the remaining exposed edges of the painted subfloor.