After I finished the stairs, I felt pretty good and gung-ho, so tackled a few more smaller projects on the home interior and got really busy. I just now get back to this thread, and thanks for all the comments.
Several have suggested that the pieces of molding on the stair landing should be white, and I agree. Those are the original moldings, and match the color of the interior stained doors. I just nailed them back at the end of the job, but now see that they have become the unintended highlights of the stairs, and so must go. Not just painting them white, but I am going to replace them with a smaller cove molding which is even more innocuous.
About the compressor that I used to run the nailer, I weighed it out of curiosity and found that it is 62 lbs. It's still portable but unwieldy enough that I am reluctant to lug it around the house for smaller jobs. I thought of getting a smaller compressor whose price was too good to refuse. The problem is I have run out of space to store my toys, er tools. I already have two 2-HP compressors, one at each home, and have to think hard about getting a 3rd. Yes, going to Harbor Freight is like a kid going to a candy store, and I need to exercise self-control.
To answer a question by Ronstar, I did not use solid oak threads. That was my preference, but then I would have problem laying out the landing to match the same thickness. So, I found oak stairnose pieces at Lowe's that matched the thickness of the engineered wood planks that they also carried, and those were what I used.
