I am midway through building a house and am soon going to need to replace a very temporary for-construction-use-stairway with one that will incorporate the stringers that will eventually get dressed up to be the permanent stair.
I am going to use temporary 3/4″ treads on the stringers for the rest of construction process. My question is this: should I plan to leave the plywood and attach treads to it later or should I plan to remove the plywood and replace it with the solid wood (1 1/4″ thick) treads later? Obviosuly I need to decide this now as it dictates the cuts in the stringers.
My inclination is to plan to leave the plywood becasue it will give me a lot of surface to attach the final treads , including screwing up through the bottom . Just not sure if there are other concerns that might over-ride that advantage.
THanks in advance for any help.
Replies
I generally leave it
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BDorhn
Is the plywood glued to the stringers?
If not it could be a squecky stairway.
Rich
If I understand him right, it is not yet built.
Seems he is in planning so has to calculate what happens to decide what cuts and elevations for the stringers.I glue the ply to the stringers, and the treads to the ply later.
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Piffin
I don't build interior stairs enough to give advice.
I know just enough to be dangerous. LOL
I have built my share of stairs, but it is the exception and not the rule.
Rich
THanks for your advice. I think I'll do the same.
Please try not to assume that everyonewho builds is a man, because it's not true, and in some cases it creates a self-fulfilling cycle of women not entering the trades.
I suggest filling in your profile in order to prevent possible misimpressions.
I am one who is far more supportive of women in trades than most, but you give no indication in advance of your sex, so the generic 'he' is perfectly appropriate grammar in this case.
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I wouldn't skimp on the center stringer. I would also add a 2x4 to the side of each. I would also rather pull the temporary treads, I find it much easier to tweak the finished treads into submission.http://www.tvwsolar.com
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after"
Thanks for being supportive. Probably you don't care about this discourse, but in case you do I'll follow up to say that in the trades is exactly where the assumption of male-ness (i.e. the "he as generic" ) causes real problems/losses -- so it would be great if tradespeople who see no indication of my gender would use language that does not look like male is always the default. That same assumption finds its way into girl's educations and expressions of their possibilities... and that's where it would be great to continue seeing changes.
I have hired several women in my life contracting, and taught them too, not just used them for cleanup and gophers.And I have several times told here at BT a story of one of the greatest successes in contstruction I have seen was a woman who started as a broom pusher and gopher and who had taken over the supervisor's job within 8-9 months by being bright, alert, and a good communicator, as well as hardworking.And when I was chairman of the local Planning board, I started calling the position Chairperson for those three years, while I groomed the woman who I had spotted to succeed me, eliminating the hassle of her having to deal with the title chairman personally.but I can't agree with you as to grammar. Sorry. If you want to be recognized regarding your sex, make it known.
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I don't want to be recognized for my sex. I don't want to be assumed to be male unless I indicate otherwise. THere's a difference.
It will be now. THanks, good tip.
Remember, the more material you take off the riser height the closer you get to the underside of the stringer. May not really be a problem unless your treads are deep. Using LVL as stringers will make a stonger stair, plus deeper than solid sawn is availabe, no cross grain breakage, and more stable
THanks. WIth a 2 x 10 stringer I get 3 1/2 " of material, which I think meets code, so I was gonna use that in the middle and 2 x 12's at the two sides (5 1/2" left.). Do you think I should use ans LVL instead?
BDohrn
For a few dollars more you could have the LVLs.
That would would give you a knot free board. 1 3/4" wide stringer surface and more strength.
The stairs will be there for years to come. I would spend the extra dollars.
According to my most recent cost numbers and 48' of stinger you would spend about $100 more.
Rich
Edited 6/7/2009 8:34 am ET by cargin
THanks to all on this post. I think I got great advice and am ready to move on it.
Definitely use the same stock for the center stringer(s) as the outer two - less figuring and more stable. I will say that I do use 2x12s when building some stairs, but - as already noted by many - will always, always try to lean towards using LVLs.
Picture it this way. Not only do you have a thicker, stronger stringer, you also have one that won't move with seasonal weather changes. It won't shrink over time, and it won't develope checks. When you saw a stair stringer from solid wood, it will literally move over time and your nice, plumb, and level cuts will now be out of whack. Even the driest of kiln-dried stock will move with time, and there isn't a guarantee as to how each individual stringer will react - meaning a likelyhood of a completely out of whack staircase. We're not talking inches here mind you, but building a staircase is more on the lines of cabinetmaking where tolerances become much tighter - a lot of this is to avoid squeaks and creaks over time.
So, use the LVLS if you can. It's worth it.
As far as the sub-treads... For solid, 5/4 and up tread thicknesses with stringers 12-16" OC I usually won't use them. For 3/4 treads, I always use them. However, here's my caviat to the whole thing. I really don't like using the rough treads that have been down throughout construction. They're usually caked with just about everything one can imagine. My usual solution is to get a sheet of subfloor decking - I'm a big fan of Advantech, but plywood works well too - and cut new sub-treads to be glued - use LOADS of it - and screwed to the stringers. I use PL Premium adhesive and 2 1/2 inch deck screws for this.
Don't skimp on the 'rough' work of building a staircase, a lot of money sits on top of the frame and it's not a whole lot more to do it right.
Hope that helps...
Nick
wow! the lightbulb is burning brightly. i have fought cruddy 2x12's to try and find material that i could use. thanks to all for a solution.
hi, nick !
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I agree with Squash and cargin, use LVL if you can afford them. But if not don't decrease the middle stringer dimension and reinforce as suggested. As a side note, pad the outer sringers 1/2 or 5/8 so you can slip drywall between the stringer and the wall later, that is of course only if this applies to your situation.
If the stairs are to be carpeted it does not matter how you do it.
If the stairs are hardwood, I prefer to have the stringers open to ensure the riser/tread joint is fastenable from above with screws or nails.