Stair edge finishing

[RicodJour]

either side

There will be no expansion along the length of the strips, so you don't need to have a gap at either end. Wood expands and contracts along the width and depth, not along the length. Be aware that if you wedge in pieces against the stringers to get a tight fit you will be forcing the stringers apart incremently as you go. Very bad thing to do.

I'm not sure that I understand you completely. What size flooring planks do you have that you want to cover the steps with? I also don't know how the nosing is supposed to work. How deep (front to back of tread) is this nosing?

I am concerned that you may be letting yourself in for problems down the road. A stair takes terrible abuse. Having the treads made up from several(?) individual strips with a nosing attached is asking for trouble. Most likely the least troublesome thing will be that the stairs will creak like a son of a bitch from all of those strips moving independently. A bigger issue is what is holding that nosing in place.

In general there's a reason that treads are made from a single piece of wood. Is there any reason, besides the fact that you have some left over pieces that you'd like to use, that you can't use single piece treads and stain/finish it to match your flooring?

R

[Beartums]

We have had a set of stairs installed. They were made with plain 1.5 inch plywood (3/4" doubled) because we wanted to finish them to match our floor. I have pleanty of flooring planks to do the job and even haf the stair noses and everything. I am looking for ideas on how to finish the edges.

The stringers extend above and below the risers on either side so that the flooring would have to meet flush with the stringers, creating an interior right angle. However, the flooring is supposed to have 1/4" on either side for expansion and contraction, wich would leave a 1/4" gap between the stringer and the flooring. I could simply use moulding, but don't know how I would extend it around the curved stair nose. My contractor has suggested a clean bead of paintable caulk might be my best option, and that might be what I'm stuck with, but I'd rather do something a little nicer, if I can come up with any ideas.

Unfortunately, dissassembling the stairs is not an option.

A cross section of the stairs looks something like this:

\\ \\ \\ ----- \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ ----- \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\

Any advice would be welcome.

tia

[Beartums]

We have had a set of stairs installed. They were made with plain 1.5 inch plywood (3/4" doubled) because we wanted to finish them to match our floor. I have pleanty of flooring planks to do the job and even haf the stair noses and everything. I am looking for ideas on how to finish the edges.

The stringers extend above and below the risers on either side so that the flooring would have to meet flush with the stringers, creating an interior right angle. However, the flooring is supposed to have 1/4" on either side for expansion and contraction, wich would leave a 1/4" gap between the stringer and the flooring. I could simply use moulding, but don't know how I would extend it around the curved stair nose. My contractor has suggested a clean bead of paintable caulk might be my best option, and that might be what I'm stuck with, but I'd rather do something a little nicer, if I can come up with any ideas.

Unfortunately, dissassembling the stairs is not an option.

A cross section of the stairs looks something like this:

\\ \\ \\ ----- \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ ----- \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\ \\ | \\

Any advice would be welcome.

tia

[longshot]

how about running a piece of molding along the top of the stringer, rather than alond each tread & riser. it would be a whole lot easier, just lay it on the treads & cope out each nosing.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The 1/4" is for a room with flooring, that room can be 15' or 20' wide. I used 1/8" gap or less and used a silicone that dries clear. Makes a nice clean joint and never had expansion problems. Molding would not look good at all.

[Beartums]

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in news:RDA6e.11357$Xm3.8913@trndny01:

Thanks Edwin. I though that might be the case. I might try that.

[Beartums]

"longshot" wrote in news:ZhA6e.5218$xL4.1933@attbi_s72:

If I understand what you're saying, then I'm not sure it would work. The nosing will not overlap the top diagonal of the stringer. The top edge of the sringer comes to within about 3 inches of the treads and risers at its closest points, so the nosing will be completely contained within the stringers.

Sorry if I have misunderstood. If so, advice to set me straight would be appreciated.

thanks.

[Beartums]

"RicodJour" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for the reply. It's good to know that there will be no expansion along the length -- that will help.

The flooring planks are 5" wide. The nosing is about 3", with about 3/4" hanging over the edge. The reason we want to use the flooring is that the stairs themselves are made out of plywood and I don't know where to get complete treads with nosing. The flooring is attached with glue, which is pretty strong and should avoid too much creaking, I think. I guess I assumed that since Bruce makes the nosing the way it did that it should work just fine. I definitely could be wrong.

In any case, thanks for your reply. I'll look into single-piece treads and see what I can come up with.

thanks.

[longshot]

that's exactly what I thought you were saying... that the nosing was extending past the stringer trim

[longshot]

any lumber yard will order them for you. that's how it works.

[Joseph]

Why did he bring 6 million Jews into it?