I have made some stair treads from leftover maple flooring. I assembled all of the pieces and then glued them with carpenter’s glue while they were clamped across as well as forced into flat panels. Once they were dry I ran them through the planer just enough to even out the surfaces top and bottom.
They all looked fine when I did it, but now, six months later, half of them have warped so badly that I can barely force them flat again with clamps. Should I discard them and make new ones with the remaining leftovers I have? Should I forget any notion of trying to do this at all, and get some proper wood for the purpose? Is there some manner of flattening them out enough that I can attach some crossmembers across the bottom to try to hold them flat permanently?
I have not yet attached them to the stringers, so if the consensus is to bail out now I will be disappointed, but less so than if I have to pull the staircase apart in a year, and endure a divorce and my children’s ridicule.(Yes- the stakes are pretty high)
Thanks in advance to anyone who may have some advice.
Edited 3/25/2002 12:56:22 AM ET by RSW
Replies
RSW-
I am a little confused. Normal treads are 3/4" thick plus, while flooring is often 5/8" or less thick tongue and groove. Did you glue up the tongue and groove? Did you rip off the tongues and grooves and edge joint? Did you try to laminate them together?
I think I could give a better answer if I had a clearer idea of how the treads were assembled.
-Rob
I glued up the floorboards, using the tongue and groove as they were originally milled. Then I took a a piece of the maple that is approximately 1 1/2 inches wide by the thickness of the flooring (3/4") and used the biscuit joiner to attach it to the two exposed edges with the intention of cutting it to a bullnose with a router. I never got that far before the summer ended and when I went back to it, the warping problem was very obvious.
My intention had been to back each tread with strips of the floor glued across the back side at right angles. I didn't think that expansion would be a problem over such a short distance, but maybe you can give me an opinion on that too.
I have a sense that I need to start again and do this properly, but I am hoping for a miracle.
Thanks, RSW
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