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Thread: Need some advice for staircase remodeling

  1. #61
    Thanks Richard. What material do you use for making template? Speaking about blade, I understand we need to use a fine tooth blade. The minimum being 40-tooth for 7 1/4", 60-tooth for 10" and 80-tooth for 12". Is that correct?

    I have 1" white-oak treads.

  2. #62
    Thanks for the tips Tom. I wouldn't trust myself w/ a handsaw to make a straight cut. Probably need a lot of practice to make a decent cut. A power tool would most likely give better results.

    For the first few treads, I will go easy and conservative. I might cut it a bit larger and adjust them slowly. Sanding down if required. Definitely will not force it in.

    By the way, what is a preacher? A pen with a very sharp/pointy metal tip? I saw on YouTube many people using that pen and was wondering what is the benefit over a pencil.

  3. #63
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Harrisburg, NC
    Posts
    2,255
    Tom- I've been using a preacher for years for marking cuts, on stair stringers, I just never knew it had a name. I kind of self invented it out of necessity. I had to look it up on "woodtalk" to see what you meant.

    Joe- I use 1/4" ply for templates. Any new blade that is sharp is most important. Sometime more teeth start clogging up.
    Last edited by Richard Wolf; 01-05-2019 at 8:32 PM.
    Richard

  4. #64
    Hi Joe, I went down a similar path many years back to recap my old stairs. There was a lot of good advise from this forum but I have to single out one individual who is obviously a master at stairs, Richard Wolfe. I highly recommend picking his brain some more if you have the opportunity.

    For my experience, only based on one project n my house with advise from Richard.
    I custom made the tread caps in my shop from Ash and finished them with multiple coats of varathane prior to installation
    I used painted 1/4" veneer particle-coor to cap the stringer and risers which was a mistake (should have listen to Richard and used thicker); the result was I had to do a lot more scribing to get the risers to fit nicely to the stringers.
    I had a few corner steps similar to your 6,7,8 and they were a lot of work, had to build a special cross cut sled to cut on table saw. I also cut and pre-fitted templates from 1/4 Masonite first
    I also had to cut off the old tread overhang, a bot of a job
    In the end, a lot of work, but a labor of love.

    Good luck and have fun, Ben



  5. #65
    One other comment. For what it is worth, see my thread "Benjimin Young Stair resurfacing project –... 01-17-2009, 8:31 AM" There might be something in there that will help.
    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....light=benjimin

  6. #66
    Thanks for the link Ben. It does look like your stairs have the same challenges like rounded treads, triangular winder steps, etc. Although you did a whole lot more than I am planning to. I purchased premade open-treads and using flooring for the bigger winders. Planing, gluing, cutting, fitting those large steps looked too daunting to me.

    I love the storybook at the end of the thread. Very nice looking staircase. And yes, Richard and others on this forum have been super informative and responsive. Great place to hang around.

  7. #67
    Just an update, I stained all the wood and my wife finally has chosen the tiles to go on the risers. I am planning to install the straight section with the rectangular steps this week end. Just to double chech few things:

    1) When cutting the back (long side) of the treads, we cut straight down (perpendicular) right? no need to tilt the blade by 5 degrees which seems to be the best practice for risers.
    2) Use PL Premium or Titebond wood glue to attach the new oak treads to the current plywood treads?
    3) Same question as #2 for flooring
    4) Are 2" 18 gage brad nails adequate to secure treads while the glue dries?
    5) Given the stair nose (for the winders) has a 1.25" overhang, I plan to cut all treads to maintain that 1.25" overhang. Is that too much of overhang given I don't plan to use the cove moulding? I'd like the look of the cove moulding but I have not been able to bend them enough to fit the curved steps.
    6) I plan to put the treads in front of the riser because cutting a straight line in wood is easier than in tiles. But for the winders, I am not so sure given it is multiple pieces of adjacent flooring. What do you think?
    7) The stair nose has a groove, but flooring only has a tongue&groove on the long side. I am planning to use my router to cut a tongue on the short side of the flooring to slide into the nosing. I thought it would make the connection more flush but not sure if that is worth to justify the additional work.

    Thank you all again for helping me plan this out. Although I have already done a lot of work such as removing carpet, clean up the stairs, painting the side skirts, cutting the overhang, staining the wood, lots of measuring, etc... it feels like the exciting stuff is only about to start this week end :-)

    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #68
    Just an update, I stained all the wood and my wife finally has chosen the tiles to go on the risers. I am planning to install the straight section with the rectangular steps this week end. Just to double chech few things:

    1) When cutting the back (long side) of the treads, we cut straight down (perpendicular) right? no need to tilt the blade by 5 degrees which seems to be the best practice for risers.
    2) Use PL Premium or Titebond wood glue to attach the new oak treads to the current plywood treads?
    3) Same question as #2 for flooring
    4) Are 2" 18 gage brad nails adequate to secure treads while the glue dries?
    5) Given the stair nose (for the winders) has a 1.25" overhang, I plan to cut all treads to maintain that 1.25" overhang. Is that too much of overhang given I don't plan to use the cove moulding? I'd like the look of the cove moulding but I have not been able to bend them enough to fit the curved steps.
    6) I plan to put the treads in front of the riser because cutting a straight line in wood is easier than in tiles. But for the winders, I am not so sure given it is multiple pieces of adjacent flooring. What do you think?
    7) The stair nose has a groove, but flooring only has a tongue&groove on the long side. I am planning to use my router to cut a tongue on the short side of the flooring to slide into the nosing. I thought it would make the connection more flush but not sure if that is worth to justify the additional work.

    Thank you all again for helping me plan this out. Although I have already done a lot of work such as removing carpet, clean up the stairs, painting the side skirts, cutting the overhang, staining the wood, lots of measuring, etc... it feels like the exciting stuff is only about to start this week end :-)
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #69
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Whidbey Island , Wa.
    Posts
    914
    Here’s your original thread. When you can’t find a thread you started use the forum tools by clicking on your name, that will pull up a section where you can select items such as your last post , your last thread started etc.

    Your thread must have dropped to a lower page , or when you scrolled down you just didn’t notice your thread.

  10. #70

    Thank you! Thank you!

    Hello all,

    Just want to share with the community my finished staircase. I also want to express my gratitude for all the kind people in this forum. I have never done stairs before and knew very little coming in. And I learned so much here and especially receiving quick help on some corner cases specific to my situation was invaluable. Given most info found online only covers the basic principles and techniques, I benefited a lot from your knowledge and experience which often was needed to unblock me in some unique situations.

    I was told many times that this staircase isn't for a novice, thus I was very hesitant at first. But thanks to you all, once all my questions were answered here and I learned what I needed, I felt much more confident in tackling it. And I would say it was pretty smooth afterward. I took my time to measure, cut, dry fit, make templates, etc. and things aligned perfectly on first attempt. Understanding what needed to be done was the hardest part.

    All said and done, it was a long but fun project and my wife is really pleased (the only metric that matters, hehe) with the end product. Some pics below. You can see the hand rail still have its original color. I will sand and stain it when the weather warms up again. The oil stain smells too bad and it's now frisky to keep windows open.

    Thank you all. This forum rocks!
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by joe webb; 10-24-2019 at 3:11 PM.

  11. #71
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Harrisburg, NC
    Posts
    2,255
    Good job, looks great.
    Richard

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