I am replacing the carpet on the stairs in my home with oak step treads. I want to use 5/4 solid Red Oak that is wide enough to fabricate the tread without gluing up multiple boards. I have a local lumber yard that will mill and kiln dry the lumber. With a board almost 12″ wide am I asking for wood movement troubles as opposed several more narrow strips glued together to make the step treads? Regarding all my reading on installing step treads they are to be secured with nails, screws, and/or construction adhesive. My inclination is to allow for wood movement of these wide boards rather than try to fight the inherent movement caused by changes in humidity in the sunny south (Tennessee). Please advise re best strategy for beautiful oak step treads.
Don McKinney
Replies
Oak likes to move but there isn't much you can do about it. Solid boards may cup but that can happen with glue ups, too. A lot will depend on the individual boards and how dry they are, 8% moisture content is what we shoot for +-. I'm guessing you will be removing the existing treads and replacing with the oak?. If you just add oak to the existing, there are issues.
I screw my treads down, three screws per stinger per tread. You have to watch where you put them so they don't split the ends of the stringers. I also add screws from the riser into the edge of the treads, in between the stringers from the back. Very often you will need a shim here and there, both under the tread and behind the risers. Make sure you pre-drill the correct size holes and don't use sheetrock screws. If they don't break while driving, they may later on.
Most of the time I face screw the treads with trim head screws. The hole can be filled. My favorite is Famowood in birch for red oak, it seems to match better. This won't take a stain. If staining, I use Zar wood patch. You could also countersink and plug.
Adhesive is not needed since it won't hold very well on the end grain of the stringers and the face grain of moving treads. It will make a repair more difficult in the future. A little dab on the shims is good so they don't get loose.
Wood treads get abraded as traffic wears on them. They aren't that safe in stocking feet. Most folks will use a carpet runner so you have the best of two worlds. Sealing the backside of the treads can help with moisture absorption for a while but the framing and house is going to move anyway. Gluing them down will restrict movement and may cause a crack. They will be able to push the screws so don't worry about those. Good luck.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
There will be no difference in movement across the width of the tread using one board vs. a glue-up of multiple boards. Expansion/contraction will be minimized if you can get and use quartersawn lumber -- good luck with that, though, especially in wide boards.
There are some good books on stairbuilding -- the Taunton one is pretty nice.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Mike,
Thanks for your response. I'll try for quartersawn lumber oak, boy would that be beautiful. Would wide boards have more tendancy to cup? If so will orientation of the concentric rings help this issue. Please respond.
Don McKinney
Don:
In QS boards, the rings are pretty much perpendicular to the surface so, unless there is a large moisture difference on one side vs. the other, cupping is reduced as well as expansion/contraction. (You can't really "orient" the rings, because they are always the same, regardless of which side is up.) QS is more stable all around.
Even if you don't use QS, cupping will not be a big problem on properly constructed stairs. They should be held flat by the stringers. BTW, how about a little more info? I assume you are replacing the old stairs (i.e., removing the old treads and risers and installing new). Correct? (If you are simply covering the old, all bets are off! That's a whole 'nuther matter.) Is this open stringer construction, housed stringer, combination? Also, you can learn a lot by paying attention to how it was put together when you're pulling it apart. Be forewarned tho' that deconstructing a set of well-made stairs without trashing the whole thing can be pretty difficult and time consuming. Depending on what's important to save, it can often be a lot easier to simply replace the whole enchilada.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Have at it, and post some oics when you're done.
But be aware ahead of time that you will be changing the height of the bottom step, and the height of the top step. The bottom one will be an inch (or therabouts) taller than the rest; and the top one will be an inch shorter than the rest.
Note that you and your family will quickly "learn" these new riser patterns. But if you ever have houseguests, they mightl be somewhat likely to trip on your stairs.
Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
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