Stairs...The Neverending Story

Does anyone remember that movie, The Neverending Story? Or are you not that old? (my age is definitely showing!) I really liked the movie but boy did that dragon ick me out. Anyone else with me? ::::crickets, crickets::::

I think I was freaked by the scales on the back. That texture...yeesh. No way was I riding on his back!

Anyhow. I know I'm way off my topic here.

The stairs. The neverending story.

When I last left you I was sanding them like a boss (mom, do not open this link-not safe for you! I mean it.) and trying to work out the dilemma with the gaps.

That's what they looked like after I sanded a whole hell of a lot. And by no means were they perfect (even barring the gap). There were these types of things I had to deal with:

But ya know, I just decided to go with it. The worst that could happen was to cover it with carpet again
(my mantra every time I got discouraged).

So I forged ahead and bought quarter round. If you don't know, quarter round is a type of trim and almost all houses have it. I'm sure you've all seen it:

It's the part that butts up against the wall and the floor. I figured it would work to cover my gaps. And it did wonderfully. This is also very cheap (.52/sq yard or something). I think it only cost me something like 5.00 to buy a bunch of it (yes I measured but left my measurements at home when I went to Home Depot so I guesstimated-I figured I could always go back for more). I brought them home in 8 ft lengths and decided to cut them with my miter box.

I already had one but these only cost about 15.00. And no, I did not miter. I cut straight lines. I figured I would cover any goofs with copious amounts of caulk. That's all a girl really needs people=====>> copious amounts of caulk.:::snicker:::

Anyhow. Sidetracked again.
So, I made my cuts (measure twice-cut once!) For this I needed 3 separate sizes. 1 for the height, 1 for the width and 1 for the depth of the stairs. Then all I did was nail them down and used liquid nails.
Problem was I still had plenty of gaps to deal with.
You can see where I put the 3 separate pieces together:

 I was less worried about the gap above because caulk would help me there.
  But there was a gap on the overhang of the tread.

 
I went back to HD to find a solution. I found it in wood shims. Cutting those little guys was time consuming. But I prevailed.

Then, I caulked (like a boss).

After which, my stairs looked like this:

Okay, not exactly like that. Apparently I took these pics before caulking. And not one after. Oh wells. Use your imagination please. Already it looks a hundred times better than before. No gaps, sanded down. Even with all the imperfections I know it's coming together!

One more hurdle to go-staining and painting!