Hardwood Stair Treads
Starting with construction steps &
refacing
Hardwood Stair Treads can be made in a number of ways depending
on your application and stage of construction or rennovation.
But by far the easiest method is to build a set of stairs
from construction material (or strip an existing carpeted
set) and create your grand oak staircase by covering the raw
wood with more glamourous woods.. walnut, oak ... even tigerwood
and brazilian
cherry treads can be made for half the cost of the solid
wood method.
So here's a bit about using "Recover
Treads" .
With recapping treads, stairs are built out of construction
material first and then recapped with decorative wood stair
treads, of a hardwood to match the rest of your interior decoration.
In a rennovation application we are assuming that your existing
steps are satisfactory in design and structure and now you
just wish to cover them over with a more appealing solid hardwood
stair, often as a replacement for the dusty old carpet.
 Wooden
stair treads are usually 1" in full thickness. Risers
are made from 1/4" plywood with a decorative face veneer
to match the wood treads. Stingers are faced with this same
plywood material.
The structural framework of your stairs is made entirely
out of construction material. This makes the project easier.
Screws and glue can be used randomly and liberally to make
the whole structure good and solid. When all is said and done
this will be covered with either decorative plywood or solid
hardwood treads. For a beginner carpenter this offers alot
of margin for error.
for all the installation tips and tricks see .. how
to install hardwood stair treads
It also works out to be less expensive because the wood that
costs the big bucks has now been replaced with plywood for
the risers and stringers. The fine woods you have chosen for
the wooden stairway treads that show, has been downsized to
1" in thickness, again saving significant dollars.
At the end of the day both of these approaches create the
same appearance and wearability... afterall the walking zone
(ie. the hardwood tread) is solid wood in both cases.
Alternate Approaches:
Method #3:
Using hardwood flooring on stairs in conjunction with a stair
nosing.
See our section on... how to install hardwood flooring on
stairs
Method #4:
Using Ceramic tile on the back half of your stair treads in
conjuction with a stair tread nosing to create the front overhang.
See our section on... how to tile stair treads
if you are interested in purchasing Hardwood
Stairs link to our sister site
|
Stairs
