Cladding staircase steps/risers with hardwood

CBYR1983

Moving house - staircase steps look like softwood. Currently carpeted but would like to avoid carpet if possible.

Where we're living now the steps were hardwood which we handed varnished and then we painted the risers white.

Anyone have any experience of cladding steps? Seems difficult, I think edges are rounded.

slowburner

CBYR1983 wrote: »

Moving house - staircase steps look like softwood. Currently carpeted but would like to avoid carpet if possible.

Where we're living now the steps were hardwood which we handed varnished and then we painted the risers white.

Anyone have any experience of cladding steps? Seems difficult, I think edges are rounded.

Those rounded edges are called bullnoses

This 'cladding' business could be a bit of a challenge, for sure.

The problem is that the run of the staircase must be consistent. That is to say, the ratio of riser to tread must be identical throughout the staircase run.
Any variation in riser height or tread depth can lead to a person falling down or up the stairs.
If you were to clad the treads, you would have to clad them all evenly.
This would mean that the top tread would have to sit higher than the landing by the amount of the thickness of the tread.
Or if you started at the top, the discrepancy would be at the bottom.
Either way, cladding the treads by fixing on timber would create a trip hazard.

If you wanted to replace the treads with hardwood, you would effectively need to have the staircase rebuilt.
Of course, this depends on how the staircase was constructed in the first place but it is highy unlikely that you would be able to separate the treads from the risers or stringer without significant damage.

Maybe you would consider staining the treads and painting the risers to get that contrasting look?

CBYR1983

Thanks, I get you. In theory we would be laying flooring of the same thickness on the landing and hall, so that should avoid the height problem you're talking about.

Can't see the staining route working as the landing floor is chipboard, not tongue and groove.

What got me thinking it could be done was a flooring guy working on a neighbour's place whose van suggested he was "expert in covering all staircases with hardwood" but sounds a bit too good to be true alright, hence my seeking advice on boards!

slowburner

Maybe it can be done so.
I would ask to see some of the guy's work first and get a detailed description of precisely how he plans to do it.

North West

Hi
Junckers flooring do a nosing riser and a for there flooring which let you use their flooring on stairs.Google www.junckers.com. have a look at the site.

it will take a bit of machining with a router and board cutting. Talk to a professional carpenter.
NW

cork2

Hey there, to be honest to a qualified experienced carpenter should have no problem doing this. I've done two of them now, knewl posts ,spindles and handrail are straight forward to do, as for risers and treads I found the easiest method was to assemble the boards on the bench and make a sheet just big enough to be cut down the middle to give you a tread and a riser. Make sure when buying the floor make sure the supplier manufacture a compatible nosing piece as Joinery shops charge a lot to make them to suit. Cut the nosing of the old tread and then starting from the bottom fit your risers and treads scribing the risers on to the treads. If you have a timber stairs glue the cladding to the old stairs and you can put a few nails along the ends of the treads where your new string will cover them. When laying the treads make sure the Tongue on the board is facing out to take the nosing. My most recent one was in White oak and I got an oak board 9mm wide to clad the strings. The most important thing is floor the hallways at the top and bottom of the stairs to keep your rises consistent and don't be in a rush have patience I spent day's on my last stairs and it was worth it turned out great.