[Badger_DIYer]

Hello again, it's mister "biting off more than I can chew"

Today's distress signal involves the stairs. Now I'm not going to be doing these this weekend (hardwood floors), but soon after they'll need to be addressed.

Up to this point, my game plan was to do the following (this was BEFORE I tore up the carpet and found out how the stairs were built!)

1. Replace treads with solid oak treads
2. Cover risers with a thin oak veneer
3. The skirt board looks VERY much in place, so we were going to strip it and stain it.

From there, i'm sure there will be pieces of trim...etc. to put on afterwards.

Fast forward to this evening when this top flight lost the carpeting & padding. This mother is built like a brick $%#house!!! It appears the skirtboard or stringer has routed out areas for the treads.

So now the golden question is how the heck to we get these treads out without destroying this staircase?? It also looks like there's adhesive on top of all the nails holding them in.

All suggestions and comments are welcome. Help me make this staircase beautiful!!

Have a good night!:thumbsup:

 

[Gary in WA]

No, they don't look routed in, because they used particle board. The skirt board is separate from the tread/riser. If you replace it, make sure the risers don't vary by more than 3/8", as per code. If you're going with oak, it would look tacky to leave that skirt anyway. Be safe, GBAR

 

[Badger_DIYer]

steps

Thanks for the response GBAR. I think stairs scare people!

Upon closer inspection, the skirt board IS routed out slightly for the tread.

I spent all weekend laying the hardwood floor of the upstairs and still have much to do so the stairs will be another weekend I'm sure.

Eventually when the railing will go back on, I assume I'll have to raise up the lower part(part which attaches to the bottom stair) to the 3/4s of an inch to match, correct? Or else it won't sit properly.

So it seems as though this stairbox was put together very solid and I might have to approach it from underneath to get the old treads off. I'm just afraid of damaging the structure since it is partical board.

 

[Bob Mariani]

You may find that they only have wedges under each tread to hold them into place. This is all that is normally done.

 

[Bud Cline]

Remove the existing treads.
Veneer the skirt edge and face to cover any routed areas.
Veneer the risers.
Install the treads.
Stain and finish it all the same color.
The End.