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03-07-2018, 10:48 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-07-2018, 10:49 AM by joe1086.)
Neil,
We did this years ago when we replaced carpet covered pine treads with new oak treads. The pine treads were glued into the stringers. I made two cuts in the treads for clearance and removed them entirely....they came out of the stringers fairly easily and cleanly. On a few of the new steps there are a tiny gaps that noticable only to me - you can't see the voids in the stringers. This was the main staircase so we also did one step at a time so we could use the stairs.
10 years later and only one or two of the steps squeak...
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(03-05-2018, 03:06 PM)mad_planter Wrote: You verified you actually have stringers under there? You never know....
Guess what? What I thought I felt to be a center stringer was actually a nail. No center stringer. MDF treads and risers. I can't believe they have lasted this long. Can't even believe they meet any kind of structural code.
There is no room to install a center stringer because the stairwell underneath has a sheetrock ceiling butting right up to the bottom of the risers. The new treads are 1" oak so they'll have some support but I'm going to run a 2x4 the width of the treads as far back as I can get it to support the treads.
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(03-07-2018, 03:00 PM)Snipe Hunter Wrote: Guess what? What I thought I felt to be a center stringer was actually a nail. No center stringer. MDF treads and risers. I can't believe they have lasted this long. Can't even believe they meet any kind of structural code.
There is no room to install a center stringer because the stairwell underneath has a sheetrock ceiling butting right up to the bottom of the risers. The new treads are 1" oak so they'll have some support but I'm going to run a 2x4 the width of the treads as far back as I can get it to support the treads.
Stairs that are built as a unit offsite and installed don't have center stringers either. They are built more like furniture and use rabbits, dado's, and braces to make them one solid unit. You should be able to something similar, perhaps even in place to help reinforce it.
I hate it when builders/homeowners cheap out and try to save essentially peanuts across the whole job and build crap.
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This is what I did
![[Image: TsYcbiY.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/TsYcbiY.jpg)
You can see there's no room for a center stringer.
![[Image: 0ySSNOW.jpg?1]](https://i.imgur.com/0ySSNOW.jpg?1)
To give you an idea how wracked everything is, you can see the shim I'm putting in on the top of the risers. The stairs were 1/2" lower on the left side.
![[Image: bS0Ihuu.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/bS0Ihuu.jpg)
Everything will be nailed and glued.
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Yep. No center stringer. That's why the treads were engineered to 1-1/4" Thickness.
I've removed a couple of those. Remade them to meet step height code. When they bring in a premade home on a trailer from one state to another state, sometimes the codes aren't the same.
Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020
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Stairs are in. I used a Parks waterborne poly on the treads. 7 coats, block sanded with 320g between coats. Hope that's enough. Will be installing new railing/balusters and handrail to match. We were going to paint the existing but nooooo, wife changed horses mid stream again. I have the balusters (faux wrought iron) so I'll need to get the wood.
![[Image: L8BiU3U.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/L8BiU3U.jpg)
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Looks amazing, great job.
I no longer build museums but don't want to change my name. My new job is a lot less stressful. Life is much better.
Garry
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Steve
Mo.
I miss the days of using my dinghy with a girlfriend too. Zack Butler-4/18/24
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020
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btw, that Parks waterborne poly is the easiest thing I've ever worked with using a brush. It dries in an hour even in low 40 degree weather. Like most waterbournes, it needs moving air more than it needs heat to dry. I could handle it in an hour and sand it and re-coat it in two. Time will tell how well it holds up.
I did use a min-wax waterborne sanding sealer (H-Depot) to raise the grain and block sanded it flat w/220. Used min-wax "natural" stain after the sealer. It helped even out the color between the treads, some were much more red than others.
This
Plus this
and this on top
