House remodel - Wood working questions - stairs

[Bob CTS]

Hey guys,

I want to do a major remodel on house, I live in an older split foyer home.

I would like to convert the stairs to hardwood, but I am scratching my head in one area. Should I install the oak treads:

Up against Sheetrock only
Install an angled piece of wood along wall then treads
or install against Sheetrock and trim them out with quarter round


I do know the stair stringers (sp?) are up against the wall.

What is the best way to secure the treads and back plate? Do you use screws or nails? I want to glue them as well, trying to prevent squeaks.

I don't want to go too crazy, this is not a show home but I want it to look good. I would do the landing in oak hardwood as well and stain it all together.

Thoughts?
Post up your stair pics if you don't mind.

[simpleman68]

Glue and screw is a solid plan and worked well for me in the past.
Budget will dictate the trim on the wall. Depending on the length of the stairs, a nice oak trip piece could get expensive, but will look nice.

I would not bother with quarter rounds. Tons of cutting, looks cheap if not done perfectly and they tend to crack and age poorly compared to the wood they'll be next to.
Just my 2 pence. :cert:
Scott

Hey guys,

I want to do a major remodel on house, I live in an older split foyer home.

I would like to convert the stairs to hardwood, but I am scratching my head in one area. Should I install the oak treads:

Up against Sheetrock only
Install an angled piece of wood along wall then treads
or install against Sheetrock and trim them out with quarter round


I do know the stair stringers (sp?) are up against the wall.

What is the best way to secure the treads and back plate? Do you use screws or nails? I want to glue them as well, trying to prevent squeaks.

I don't want to go too crazy, this is not a show home but I want it to look good. I would do the landing in oak hardwood as well and stain it all together.

Thoughts?
Post up your stair pics if you don't mind.

[Bob CTS]

Glue and screw is a solid plan and worked well for me in the past.
Budget will dictate the trim on the wall. Depending on the length of the stairs, a nice oak trip piece could get expensive, but will look nice.

I would not bother with quarter rounds. Tons of cutting, looks cheap if not done perfectly and they tend to crack and age poorly compared to the wood they'll be next to.
Just my 2 pence. :cert:
Scott

I understand the cost thing, want to take out carpet upstairs. Looked at doing pre-finished hardwood but I have particle/chip board as sub-flooring and there is no way that will hold the nails. So thinking of engineered flooring.

The oak treads are $25 each and the riser was $14 IIRC. I have 7 steps up and seven going down.

I am thinking that it might be look nice to just go up against the Sheetrock.

Want to replace all the baseboards and doors in house also.

[simpleman68]

I understand the cost thing, want to take out carpet upstairs. Looked at doing pre-finished hardwood but I have particle/chip board as sub-flooring and there is no way that will hold the nails. So thinking of engineered flooring.

The oak treads are $25 each and the riser was $14 IIRC. I have 7 steps up and seven going down.

I am thinking that it might be look nice to just go up against the Sheetrock.

Want to replace all the baseboards and doors in house also.

Against the rock works too, but with 7 steps, the cost of trimming the one side or even both won't be too bad at all.

Also, the "chip board" you are referring to may be OSB. That will hold floor nails just fine unless it is a thin sheet of laminate to cover old uneven subflooring.
OSB is not like the old particle board that was cheap and fell apart quickly.

I'm heading off in a minute, but feel free to shoot me a pm if you want to chat on the phone and knock ideas around.
I'm no pro, but I've done my share of floors over the last 15 years or so and would be glad to help where I can. :cert:
Scott

[Bob CTS]

Against the rock works too, but with 7 steps, the cost of trimming the one side or even both won't be too bad at all.

Also, the "chip board" you are referring to may be OSB. That will hold floor nails just fine unless it is a thin sheet of laminate to cover old uneven subflooring.
OSB is not like the old particle board that was cheap and fell apart quickly.

I'm heading off in a minute, but feel free to shoot me a pm if you want to chat on the phone and knock ideas around.
I'm no pro, but I've done my share of floors over the last 15 years or so and would be glad to help where I can. :cert:
Scott

Thanks, it is the old particle board, think it's 3/4" thick, you look at it wrong and it turns to dust. I pulled it up in the bathroom down to the joists since I was going to tile it. When I helped my FIL build his house, we used that Advantec floor, good grief that stuff is awesome.

[ConstantChange]

Post a picture up so we can see what you've got.

[oahuyahoo]

You have a number of choices:
1.) Cut treads and risers snug.
2.) Cut drywall both sides and slide boards into the drywall, I then use L trim and mud. I don't like to flat tape drywall against wood, it cracks.
3.) Trim it out with matching or even contrasting 1 X material. 1/4 round looks tacky.
Be sure you glue everything and install the risers before the treads that way if you can you can climb under you can backnail/screw the riser to the tread, (noise).
Think about how you are going to finish off the last tread, some folks extend it a little over the riser and bullnose it so it doesn't get scuffed.

[Bob CTS]

Post a picture up so we can see what you've got.

Okay, will take a few when I get home.