refinishing stairs question

[russell johansen]

I just took carpet off my stairs and found some nice but not fancy wood. There are large nails (about 8 per stair) and there are holes from the carpet staples. Do I push the nails in deeper and cover with a wood filler? Then sand?

What final finish after the stain do I want. I assume I use several coats of whatever I use.

Thanks for the help.

[Ryan Myers]

Let me say I'm no expert on this subject, but I have refinished several hardwood floors and stairs.

I would not try to drive the nails deeper (especially framing nails) and then cover as the nail will work its way back up and eventually push/crack the filler out of the hole. Stair stringers have a lot of movement in them and the treads also move alot. Especially when you add a human body pushing all their weight onto a 11" x 36" tread.

You should remove the treds altogether and install new 5/4 hardwood treads and risers or you can laminate your existing treads with a thinner material, but your stairs must all be within a 1/4" rise of one another for safe walking and to meet code. Thats why I suggest removing the treads. Exposed wooden treads are best adhered with LOTS of construction adhesive and blind fasteners.

Also for the finish, the best product for DIY floors is Polyurethane. It is far more durable than anything else. I've used Minwax poly(gloss) in the past and it doesn't seem to hold up in high traffic areas. Seems to need recoated about once a year. You probably don't want to use gloss on the stairs anyways, because going down them in socks can lead to.... :eek: I think if I was to do it again I would use a product like a cross-linking acrylic/poly which is designed for very heavy-foot traffic. Similiar to what they use on bb courts. I believe the pros use this stuff and it is harder to work with but will outlast regular poly.

Someone with more experience in this area can probably add better advice.

[Steve Schoene]

Short of paint, I don't think you are likely to get a very satisfactory finish over paint grade treads with exposed nails and staple holes. The suggestion to replace the treads entirely would give the best results, though depending on how the stairs are constructed this could either be a fairly simple task, or it could be a monster.

[Craig Supplee]

You don't say where the nails are located in the treads. There are also 2 types of stairs. One has the treads and risers let into the stringers, and the other has the stringers cut out so the treads and risers nail onto the cut out sections. It sounds like this might be the type you have. This is definitely easier to re-tread, as you can basically take the treads and risers off without damage to the stringers. You also will find that the risers should have been nailed from the backside to the back of the tread when they were built. This also complicates the process. New treads need to be nailed and glued to the riser for support on the back of the tread. I have used finish nails on the treads with no ill effect, then filled with a good putty/crack fill that you can get from flooring companies. If everything is glued and nailed soundly, there should not be any problems down the road.
As for finish, there are several waterborne urethanes available now through flooring stores that will work great on your stairs. They are no harder to use than any other waterborne finish. You normally use a 9" paint pad to apply these finishes.