Chris Holleman
11-07-2007, 8:43 AM
Hey all,
Nice forum you guys have going here. I see there have been a number of threads about staircases in the past, and I've read through most of them. My particular project is remodeling the staircase in my house. It was previously covered with carpet, with pine treads and risers and the plan is to R&R the pine treads for oak, install a skirt board, and tile the risers to match the foyer. The folks over at the John Bridge tile forums have suggested a couple courses of action on how to prepare the risers to accept the tile while still maintaining the maximum amount of useable tread area. The one suggestion that i like the best is installing cleats 3/4" from the plumb face of the stringer and then installing 3/4" plywood between the stringers to bring the work surface flush with the plumb face of the stringer. Then, adding 1/4" cement board to my now flush and flat surface to accept the tile. Does anyone here think there would be any problems with this approach?
The next couple of questions I have have probaly been beaten to death, but...
When attaching the treads to the stringers, I've read that PL is great to use, but what kind of mechanical fasteners are best? Some say finish nail, some say screw. I personally think that screws would work best since they'll never back out. Proper application is to pre-drill and counter sink, then dowel and sand flush?
7 of my steps are open on one side. Most stair pictures I've seen have skirt boards here with returns on the treads. I'd like to not use the skirt board and just have the treads return against the drywall using scrolled stair brackets. I haven't seen many staircases like that and I'm wondering if there's a reason, or just personal preference.
When attaching the newel post to the bottom tread, should there be any additional support beneath the newel post, or would the newel post be sturdy enough with just a bolt?
I was going to purchase my hardware and ballustrade from www.stairsupplies.com They seem to have relatively straight forward hardware kits and decent prices on their ballustrade supplies (I want to use iron ballusters with an oak handrail and newel post) the treads I was going to source from the Homer since they have decent prices. Their treads already have returns as well. Can I do better elsewhere?
The trim in my house has been stained with Minwax in the Gold Oak flavor with a poly top coat. I've read here that finishes like that don't hold up over foot traffic. Can someone recommend a brand? I was going to finish after it's all in place. And lastly, the species I plan on using for the treads is Red Oak. Exactly how does this stain up? Will it inherently have red tones through the wood regardless of the stain used? My skirt board will dive into the base at the top and bottom of the stairs, and the existing base is pine. Would using oak for the skirt look the best even though it doesn't match the base?
Thanks for getting through all the above, I know I just wrote a book. Here's a photo of what I have to work with:
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/192072.jpg
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/192074.jpg
some of the foyer i just completed to better show the bottom:
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/205540.jpg
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/205541.jpg
Nice forum you guys have going here. I see there have been a number of threads about staircases in the past, and I've read through most of them. My particular project is remodeling the staircase in my house. It was previously covered with carpet, with pine treads and risers and the plan is to R&R the pine treads for oak, install a skirt board, and tile the risers to match the foyer. The folks over at the John Bridge tile forums have suggested a couple courses of action on how to prepare the risers to accept the tile while still maintaining the maximum amount of useable tread area. The one suggestion that i like the best is installing cleats 3/4" from the plumb face of the stringer and then installing 3/4" plywood between the stringers to bring the work surface flush with the plumb face of the stringer. Then, adding 1/4" cement board to my now flush and flat surface to accept the tile. Does anyone here think there would be any problems with this approach?
The next couple of questions I have have probaly been beaten to death, but...
When attaching the treads to the stringers, I've read that PL is great to use, but what kind of mechanical fasteners are best? Some say finish nail, some say screw. I personally think that screws would work best since they'll never back out. Proper application is to pre-drill and counter sink, then dowel and sand flush?
7 of my steps are open on one side. Most stair pictures I've seen have skirt boards here with returns on the treads. I'd like to not use the skirt board and just have the treads return against the drywall using scrolled stair brackets. I haven't seen many staircases like that and I'm wondering if there's a reason, or just personal preference.
When attaching the newel post to the bottom tread, should there be any additional support beneath the newel post, or would the newel post be sturdy enough with just a bolt?
I was going to purchase my hardware and ballustrade from www.stairsupplies.com They seem to have relatively straight forward hardware kits and decent prices on their ballustrade supplies (I want to use iron ballusters with an oak handrail and newel post) the treads I was going to source from the Homer since they have decent prices. Their treads already have returns as well. Can I do better elsewhere?
The trim in my house has been stained with Minwax in the Gold Oak flavor with a poly top coat. I've read here that finishes like that don't hold up over foot traffic. Can someone recommend a brand? I was going to finish after it's all in place. And lastly, the species I plan on using for the treads is Red Oak. Exactly how does this stain up? Will it inherently have red tones through the wood regardless of the stain used? My skirt board will dive into the base at the top and bottom of the stairs, and the existing base is pine. Would using oak for the skirt look the best even though it doesn't match the base?
Thanks for getting through all the above, I know I just wrote a book. Here's a photo of what I have to work with:
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/192072.jpg
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/192074.jpg
some of the foyer i just completed to better show the bottom:
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/205540.jpg
http://www.mustangmods.com/ims/u/3102/6808/205541.jpg