Strength of re-glued stair tread

[Robert Rifkin]

Hi,

In re-doing a rustic oak staircase yesterday I accidentally split one of the old treads along its length. The split was not straight, but I decided to attempt to re-glue it. After gluing and clamping I generated substantial glue squeeze-out, and the final joint is practically invisible, suggesting that I obtained a pretty good alignment and mating of the two surfaces. Nonetheless, I wonder about the strength of the resulting "joint".

Obviously, the most conservative approach would be to not risk a future breakage by simply replacing the tread (although it would then no longer match the other stair treads ). My non-scientific tests of the joint by standing on it indicate no weakness, but I am wondering if there is a more scientific basis for rejecting my repair efforts.

Thanks in advance for anyone's insights.

Bob

[Doug Garson]

You don't say what glue you used but I've heard it said many times that today's glues are stronger than the wood. Judging by what you have said, I wouldn't worry about it.

[John Lankers]

Your glue joint is long grain to long grain and therefore should be stronger than the original, unless I'm missing something.

[Frederick Skelly]

I think it will be fine. Good glue joints are pretty strong. I once saw a demo where someone used just plain old Elmer's Glue-All to glue-up two 6" wide boards. After it dried, he placed a 2x4 on each side of the joint and hit the joint with a sledgehammer. The board broke, but not that joint. Granted, he'd jointed both sides before gluing and you couldn't. But if you had good squeeze out and can barely see the line (as you describe), I don't see much difference there.

[Wayne Lomman]

Robert, I agree with the other guys, it will be OK. I have done the same thing more than once and used the same solution with no problem. My reasoning is that the tread is supported both ends and all the glue has to do is stop the 2 pieces moving independently. Also a split joint like this has a far larger surface area than a straight joint. Its good that you were able to salvage it and keep the staircase original. Cheers

[Howard Acheson]

You don't say what adhesive you used but the glue joint will be stronger than the wood if you used a PVA type adhesive.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

the tread is supported both ends and all the glue has to do is stop the 2 pieces moving independently.

excellent point!

[Paul F Franklin]

Agree it will be fine. But if it's going to eat at you....put a couple of pocket screws in across the joint on the bottom side...unless it's an open stair. Then "never mind".

[Robert Rifkin]

To expand on my post: in fact, I used Titebond II PVA adhesive. More importantly, from the way the staircase was originally built the joint is not supported from underneath, hence my concerns. I suppose that I should also mention that I screwed a couple of steel straps to the bottom of the tread for extra support.
Thanks for everyone's comments!

[Randy Red Bemont]

Even unsupported I think you will be fine. You used a good glue. Once cured it's better than the wood. Good job.

Red