Stair Question for Richard Wolfe

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Richard, I finally started replacing the carpent on the stairs I asked you about last month and I'm having a little trouble visualizing the changes in rise which results from the new hardwood. I removed the carpet and found the treads are 2X pine and the landing in the middle and top of the stairs is 2 pieces of 3/4 OSB laminated. I have replaced the carpet in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, the carpent on the first landing and carpet on the second landing with 3/8 engineered hardwood flooring. I have altered the rise of the of the first stair, and last stairs before the both landings in relation to the others stairs. I think I need to make all the rest of the stairs 3/8" taller to compensate. Is that correct?

If that's the case, I think I have two choices:

One, replace the 2X tread with a filler 1 and 1/8" thick and cap it with a 3/4" oak tread. I'm thinking I could just remove the existing tread, plane it to thickness and replace it for the filler.

Two, overlay an appearance tread 3/8" thick over the existing 2X tread.

Does this sound right? Thanks,

[Richard Wolf]

Dennis, first off you must determine the integrity and soundness of your staircase. If you have no loose parts and no squeaks, don't take the staircase apart. You are fine with adding the oak treads to the 2X material, and it dosen't matter if it is 3/8" or 3/4". On the other hand, if your staircase could use some tightening up, taking it apart to plane down the pine will allow you to put everything together with construction adhesive and screws, (don't use nails, future squeaks).
You can always PM me if you need help.

Richard

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Thanks Richard, I'm not going to take it apart as its tight--no squeaks or creaks. It looks like its screwed and glued together already. I got to looking at the stairs and the top step of both sets of stairs, the one before the middle landing and the top landing, are 1 inch higher than the rest of the steps! I never noticed it before, but it was more obvious with the carpet removed.

I'll add an additional 1" filler tread to bring those steps in line with the top two and use 3/4 " treads. I was going to use 1/4 birch ply for the riser since they are only cosmetic, but the two sides (They usually have the dado routed into them to accept the treads and risers) are not cut very accurately and I need a little more thickness to cover the gaps. I'll post a picture when its done.