JohnT Fitzgerald
10-13-2010, 10:02 AM
We are in the middle of renovating a basement room into a home theater. Old carpet gone, walls patched and primed/painted, wood trim (most of it) back up.....and LOML has indicated she now wants to nix the carpeting on the stairs and replace with oak. I just need to get the bottom riser on so the carpet guys can complete the install (next week), and the rest of the work on the stairs can be done after.
There are currently no skirts on either side, and we think we will keep that look and just butt the treads against the drywall.
I'd like input on a few items though....
- Current stairs are 2x10 nailed onto 3 stringers. I see no reason to remove these (attach new risers and treads on top of existing with glue and nails). I do need to verify what this will do to the first & last steps' height. Any thoughts or suggestions otherwise?
- tread thickness? Assuming I'm going over existing parts, I would think any thickness treads (1/2" or 3/4") would be OK.
- Which direction? I've seen descriptions of doing the stairs from the bottom up (a tread going on top of previously installed riser), and other descriptions to go top-down (install each riser up against previously installed tread).
- The stairs are 4 steps down to a landing, then another 7 steps to the bottom. I'll do the landing in hw flooring. Should the riser on the step going up sit on top of the landing, or should the flooring butt right up against that riser?
I do plan on removing existing carpet, knocking off the stair nosing, and other general cleanups before the new carpet is installed, so sawdust can be cleaned up. I also will most likely add more screws the the existing stair parts to make sure they are nice and snug. I do not have access to underneath the stairs (storage area underneath was drywalled and plastered). I'll likely prefinish (stain and poly) the treads and risers before fitting/installing, so only minor touchup will be required after installation.
did I miss anything? thoughts or suggestions are most welcome!
There are currently no skirts on either side, and we think we will keep that look and just butt the treads against the drywall.
I'd like input on a few items though....
- Current stairs are 2x10 nailed onto 3 stringers. I see no reason to remove these (attach new risers and treads on top of existing with glue and nails). I do need to verify what this will do to the first & last steps' height. Any thoughts or suggestions otherwise?
- tread thickness? Assuming I'm going over existing parts, I would think any thickness treads (1/2" or 3/4") would be OK.
- Which direction? I've seen descriptions of doing the stairs from the bottom up (a tread going on top of previously installed riser), and other descriptions to go top-down (install each riser up against previously installed tread).
- The stairs are 4 steps down to a landing, then another 7 steps to the bottom. I'll do the landing in hw flooring. Should the riser on the step going up sit on top of the landing, or should the flooring butt right up against that riser?
I do plan on removing existing carpet, knocking off the stair nosing, and other general cleanups before the new carpet is installed, so sawdust can be cleaned up. I also will most likely add more screws the the existing stair parts to make sure they are nice and snug. I do not have access to underneath the stairs (storage area underneath was drywalled and plastered). I'll likely prefinish (stain and poly) the treads and risers before fitting/installing, so only minor touchup will be required after installation.
did I miss anything? thoughts or suggestions are most welcome!