Replacing indoor stair treads and risers
bankard
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
My house is almost 100 years old and has a beautiful set of all natural wooden stairs. However, the treads and risers are showing there age: worn, loose and noisy. They are enclosed on both sides with a wooden baseboard. The existing treads and risers extend into a joint that is cut into both baseboards. All of the wood work is very decorative, old and very beautiful. I can get to the stairs from the bottom because my basement stairs run underneath them. Is there a certain procedure or trick to taking out the treads and risers so I can replace them with new ones….without destroying all the woodwork.
Thank you for your help.
Edited 4/16/2008 11:11 pm ET by bankard
Replies
If you don't want to keep the treads or risers, then you can cross cut them w/ a sawsall, then pull them out of the sides
Look ma, no jigs!!!
A pic here would really help. Chances are that the treads are wedged & glued into housed stringers. Since you can get to the stairs from the back it may be possible to cut and remove the old treads & rises, then install new ones in the same manner.
Have you considered re-finishing your stairs? It's a shame to lose some of that beautiful old woodwork and character.
If you can expose the underside of the stairs, you can glueblock them. Cut blocking to fit and install them with PL-Premium adhesive, screws or nails. Fasten the stair wall supports (stringers) if needed. This will eliminate all of the squeaks and rattles.
Once this is done you can re-sand and varnish the treads and risers.
"Perfect is the enemy of Good." Morrison
If, as Mathewson suggested, they are wedged into place, they can be tightened back in place by tapping in the wedges, and you don't need to replace anything just because they are getting loose.
As he said, they can be removed and replaced from below if necessary.
webtools.delmarlearning.com/sample_chapters/0183X_16_ch16_p507-539.pdf
That's a great link on stair construction with excellent photos and drawings. Look at Figure 16-32 to see the construction of your HOUSED STRINGER stairsto get an idea how to fix them first, if possible, instead of replace.