Hey Carpenters- Staircase Rebuild

[harrycalahan]

I had to tear out the landing on our basement staircase. It was soft and poorly built with osb. That turned into ripping the carpet off the rest of the stairs. While I was demo’ing, the wife consulted joanna gaines and this is what Im told I want now. I think Ive sourced some pine at HD for the treads but finishing is not my area of expertise. Are the treads pictured just stained or stained and then poly’d for durability? Or do you think its a vinyl cap? What would be the best finish for heavy traffic? In the meantime, Im going to try and convince the boss that some leftover LVP flooring would look good too. Thanks for any help.

 

[GAGunguy]

HC, thats not pine treads...looks like white oak to me. White oak is a great stair tread if you can find it, you usually need at least an 1.5 inch with a round nose, but looks like those treads have a flat nose, and look 2 inch thick.

Pine is soft, and will not stand up to traffic over time, if you have kids or dogs, pine will get worn quickly.

I would take a couple different choices and stain them to get approval from the boss. When I wanted to make my stair treads look old, I match the wood (red oak) and then used a torch to "toast" the grain to add some age.

I dont think a vinyl wrap will hold up...not sure about engineered wood.

Water based poly as a finish is probably best.

 

[lmitch]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cap-A-T...o-Cover-Stairs-1-in-Thick-016073673/205055357

 

[Ruger34]

Best place to get some white oak 1.5/2” thick would be a local saw mill.

 

[airx22]

For what it's worth I did my stairs using oak plywood and glued on 1.5 of solid oak across the front edge. I have a 9 year old son that goes up and down those stairs to the playroom,it's been 2 years and they have held up perfectly no chips or scratches. I did a dark stain with a water based polyurethane. I think I did all 11 steps for under $300

 

[XSmojo]

Watch your measurements if you change the treads. Going thicker will change the rise height and you really want to stay in tolerance on that.

 

[Plinker66]

Home Depot sells precut oak treads with rounded front edge.

pine is too soft

 

[geezer]

Oak wood, walnut stain, semigloss varathane poly...lights on motion sensors, one at top, one at bottom, lights stay on for 28 seconds...haven’t caulked risers yet in these pics...

 

[harrycalahan]

HC, thats not pine treads...looks like white oak to me. White oak is a great stair tread if you can find it, you usually need at least an 1.5 inch with a round nose, but looks like those treads have a flat nose, and look 2 inch thick.

Pine is soft, and will not stand up to traffic over time, if you have kids or dogs, pine will get worn quickly.

I would take a couple different choices and stain them to get approval from the boss. When I wanted to make my stair treads look old, I match the wood (red oak) and then used a torch to "toast" the grain to add some age.

I dont think a vinyl wrap will hold up...not sure about engineered wood.

Water based poly as a finish is probably best.

I dont know what oak would cost me from a sawmill but it will probably be more than I'm willing to pay. I'll call around and find out today. I forgot to mention I'm on a very limited budget and was not originally planning on rebuilding the entire staircase but here I am. I've already got the lumber for framing the landing so that wont cost anything.

My existing treads are 1" thick and rises are 8-1/2". I'll have to see what code is here. But the 8-1/2" rises are comfortable so I'd like to maintain that if possible.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cap-A-T...o-Cover-Stairs-1-in-Thick-016073673/205055357

I saw those earlier but I also realized Im going to have a custom landing at the bottom so I would need something I can cut to fit.

 

[GAGunguy]

Looks good Geezer! I like the motion led's.