Adding hardwood to existing stairs

[jymusic]

The staircase in my house has plywood steps with carpeting. I'm thinking of having someone remove the carpet and install hardwood. Is there anything wrong or problematic about installing plank hardwood on top of the plywood? Will this work and be durable?

I'm looking at Bruce hardwood flooring. At Home Depot, in the section where they have Bruce hardwood flooring I notice that they matching "stair noses" but they are around $19.50 each. If there are 14 steps total, then that would be $273 for just the "stair noses" (yikes!). Is it important I use these specific "stair nose" pieces or is there some rounded peace could add on top the existing nose (or would using anything other than those "stair nose" pieces be a mistake in terms of durability?

Does anyone know what the maximum height of each step should be? (I live in NJ)

Thanks,

JY

My original rock music:

[buffalobill]

recarpeting will give you a quieter more comfortable and less slippery stairway. or i would hand your wood project over to a carpenter with his nailer and expertise just point him at the creaks and he'll figure it all out.

there is a range of dimensions permitted on a stairway but the steps must be equal to each other or it causes people to stumble.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

It will work and be very durable. I did mine about 8 or 9 years ago and it is still in great shape. Carpet on stairs wears and gets ratty long before the rest of hte house.

Use the right pieces. They will have the proper tongue and groove to match the rest of the flooring, and have the proper overhang, etc. Anything less will look makeshift at best. If I had to fabricate the sections from hardwood, I'd charge you more that $19.50 each. You can do better than Bruce flooring also. Take a look at a few other brands.

There is a maximum height. If you put the wood planks on all stairs, they will remain in relationship to each other. What goes on the top of the stairs? In my case (split entry), I ran the flooring right across to the kitchen . Everything remained in the same plane that way. There is also a limit as to how much a step can vary from the others, but I don't recall what that dimension is.

[Goedjn]

3/16" according to 1999 BOCA.