Hardwood Stairs Issue in New Construction

10 years ago

We are building a house and noticed that our top three steps on our interior staircase weren't level. It was a significant amount. So much so that you felt as though you were tipping backward on the way up and tipping forward on the way down. I requested the steps be corrected. At this point, the risers and white oak treads were in place. Next thing I see is cove moulding on those three steps only under the treads to clearly hide the corrective work. When I asked the builder about the corrective moulding on those steps, he never responded and instead asked the trim guys to add cove moulding to every step. My preference is to have no cove moulding under the treads because it's a cleaner more modern look. Is this something we should accept? The additional moulding added to cover a mistake during construction? Thanks for the help!

Featured Answer

PRO

Mo Honeywell Carpentry, LLC

10 years ago

Almost every wood stair I have worked on has had cove moulding installed.

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Comments (7)

tatts
10 years ago
"Cleaner more modern look" is immaterial. Those stairs were built wrong and need to be fixed properly. I have to wonder about the rest of their work.
lbcork thanked tatts
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PRO
Ellsworth Design Build
10 years ago
I would now check to see if the rise and run is consistent. Anything more than 1/8" off is a trip hazard.
lbcork thanked Ellsworth Design Build
PRO
ULTIMATE HARDWOOD LTD
10 years ago
Put a level on them and confirm your intuitions. If there really bad have them torn out and levelled then installed. This is standard practice for the well heeled experts,especially on dimensional lumber framed.
lbcork thanked ULTIMATE HARDWOOD LTD
PRO
GN Builders L.L.C
10 years ago
Your stairs should be level, and uniform... To meet the code requirement, the greatest riser height within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the smallest by

more than 3/8" and the greatest tread depth within any flight of stairs shall not exceed the same, smallest by more than 3/8".

The way you determine that is you take the biggest rise and you deduct the smallest rise and you shouldn't exceed 3/8" and same thing for the tread widest tread depth - smallest tread depth and that shouldn't exceed 3/8".

As the cove molding goes, it's a decorative profile of moulding which goes under each tread of the staircase, it hides imperfections and it gives a nice detail to the staircase. Without it the stair looks like its missing something so 95% of the time it will always be there on any staircase especially if you leaving your stairs exposed. If you doing carpet it's a different story, it can be removed.
lbcork thanked GN Builders L.L.C
lbcork
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for the info on the riser height and tread depth. I just spoke with the welder working on our iron railing and he told me every step that he's having to bolt the railings on are different heights. He's been working over there for a week trying to get the railing to work, but has had a very hard time because every height is different. He thought we were no more than 1" off between risers, but more than 3/8" for sure. The iron railing is attaching to (9) stairs, so if they're all different that seems odd to me? He told me he figured this was because our house was old (original built in 1947) and I shared with him that the entire staircase was brand new and the entire second story was new. I'll be over to measure each step myself later. Thank you so much for the input!
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
You may as well have the actual unabridged version.

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/irc/2012/icod_irc_2012_3_sec011.htm

"A nosing not less than 3/4 inch (19 mm) but not more than 1 ¼ inches (32 mm) shall be provided on stairways with solid risers."

Looks like more than 1 ¼" in the pictures.