Stair Tread Finishing

[Russ Flagg]

I'm half way thru the staining of my oak Nutread stair treads and have a question. I'm staining the treads to match the existing cherry floor and will be installing new risers that will be painted white. I picked up the unfinished treads at HD.com for 24 bucks a piece so it was worth the effort replacing the disgusting carpet. My wife asked me if I was planning on putting quarter round where the treads and risers meet and I said no. I am planning on back mitering the treads at a small angle so I can get a tight fit with no gaps so in my thinking it would be a cleaner looking install without the molding. If the boss insists that I add quarter round should it match the risers or the tread? Is this standard design?

[Darius Ferlas]

To me a quarter round in this case would be hint of an attempt to hide imperfect joints rather than of a design.

A side note: white risers are not always such a great idea. You may end up painting them often as it doesn't take a whole lot to leave shoe marks on them. Ends up looking pretty messy pretty fast.

[Mel Fulks]

If you do use a moulding ,I would make it cove.Stained will show dust less than the white and show up less. The white
risers can show marks .But that's mainly because most of the stairs are made with the steepest pitch allowed,even in large homes. On the ideal 5 1/2 by 12 pitch ,recommended in the old books,it would not be a problem....but then you have to wax the handrail to slide down it !

[Peter Quinn]

A quarter round would look odd, a cove is more traditional and iME would match the risers, so white in this case.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Be prepared for the treads to shrink a little. Not much but will show a black line against the painted riser. I would be better if the riser sat on top instead of butting up against it

[Mark Wooden]

Risers get nailed to the backs of the treads; best is a 1/4" tongue fitted into a dado in the riser, no gaps visible that way.
You should not put a moulding at the back of a tread as it reduces the effective run of the tread, and a heel catch on the way down can put you on your kiester. Mouldings go up under the nosing.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I just added new stair treads and risers to replace the carpet on our stairs. I ended up putting the riser on top of the stairs without using any molding. The fit is nice and tight and attractive. The instructions for the stairs also suggest installing the riser over the tread. My original plan was to do it the other way but decided there was too great an opportunity to end with a gap.

Just FYI, a poster board template of each step makes it real easy to get the correct cutting angles. The one side was 90 deg, the other varied step to step. Each stair tread was cut individually.

[Russ Flagg]

That sounds like the way to go. As Mel mentioned the riser/run on most stairs are maxed out these days. Some time ago I was helping on a Habitat refurbish of a 1920's 3 story house. The central staircase was beat to hell but we got it back in shape. The rise was 6" and the treads were 54" wide. The crew I was working on were amazed that after 80 years most everything on this staircase was still pretty plumb and level. They don't make them like that anymore unless you have a boatload of $$$.

[Mark Wooden]

Try calling a stair shop and ask them the preferrd method
http://www.g-w.com/pdf/sampchap/9781590706480_ch18.pdf

[Richard Wolf]

I'm not sure if you are using Nu-Stair treads, which are 3/8" treads, designed to cover your existing treads or using full thickness tread material which is 5/4".

So, if you are using the Nu-Stairs, the riser goes on top of the tread, if you are using full size material the riser goes behind the tread. That is considered normal installation, but if something else works for you, I'm sure no one will notice.

Under no circumstances should you put quarter round or cove where the tread and riser meet. That is a sure sign of a diy job and will reduce the run of each tread. Just take your time and get the joint right in the first place.

[Dave Zellers]

I think there is some confusion about whether he meant at the back of the tread and bottom of the riser or under the nosing where the top of the riser meets the tread. As already stated here, this is traditionally a 3/4" cove mldg.