Staircase Question

13 years ago

I really love the look of this staircase, and a few others I've seen posted online. When we build the house, our plan was to get wall-to-wall carpet on our staircase because the builder wanted to charge around 5k to add a banister and hardwood steps. As I'm looking through DIY blogs, I am in love with these staircases. It seems like something we could do ourselves before we move in for little money. I'm just not sure how to go about this because the builders will need access to the 2nd floor for painting, carpeting, etc. The wood they use is SPF(spruce, pine or fur), so I think we would need to get treads from Home Depot to stain and put on ourselves. I'm not sure if we should just have the builder install the SPF, then we rip it up to do the stairs, or provide them with the hardwood to install rather than SPF and just stain them, etc when they are done with the 2nd floor. Does anyone have any experience with this at all? Or any suggestions as to how to go about this? We will have a knee-wall staircase for right-eventually, my husband will add a banister.

Featured Answer

PRO

CMR Interiors & Design Consultations Inc.

13 years ago

last modified: 13 years ago

You could do a modern cap on that left dry wall.....and put a wood rail to the right to match your stair treads.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

PRO
Rockin' Fine Finish
13 years ago
You could stain them and then have the contractor set them later paint the risers before setting the tread after the tread is in place you can poly coat them the treads can be a different stain color than the rest of the floors or you can make it all the same
Steve Grimes
13 years ago
Instructions for replacing carpet with treads. Example includes circular saw, jig saw, table saw, miter saw.

http://extremehowto.com/remodel-with-prefinished-stair-treads/

I'd look at Internet sources for the treads, you might find better prices and more selection.

The treads installed by your builder will be at exactly the same rise height. I _think_ that if you install new treads, the first and last riser will be taller than the other steps - correct?
Related Professionals
Frederick Interior Designers & Decorators · Columbia Interior Designers & Decorators · Woodward Interior Designers & Decorators · Beaumont Interior Designers & Decorators · Galveston Interior Designers & Decorators · Duluth Interior Designers & Decorators · Chico Interior Designers & Decorators · El Dorado Architects & Building Designers · Columbia Architects & Building Designers · Moline Architects & Building Designers · Peoria Architects & Building Designers · Anchorage Architects & Building Designers · Sierra Vista Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · San Luis Obispo Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Logan Kitchen & Bathroom Designers
PRO
Ironwood Builders
13 years ago
Actually...stair building 101 is that the first riser is reduced to allow for the 1" tread material and the last riser grows for the same reason. The adjustment is made depending on the material of the finished flooring on the first floor and the finished flooring on the second floor. Risers, by code, may not vary more than 3/8" in the overall run. Stair building and finishing is code regulated and among the more difficult bits of carpentry to attempt. "Journeymen" carpenters, the most experienced and highest paid, do stairs and roof cutting. High math and geometry, sometimes trigonometry are required to reach that level, along with high skill levels.
PRO
Stair Design / Iron Design
13 years ago
wow... i feel smarter just for reading your post ironwood... thanks for the complements, it is very true that it takes skill to put a stair together and make it look right, if the stair is framed with all the same heights on the risers this will still work for code, unless you put something very thin as a flooring at the bottom, if you have a 3/4" flooring material the difference in height is only 1/4" which sill passes code, and if the top landing area is carpet, carpet with pad usually measures to be about 3/4" so its the same math.

in my 30+ years of installing stairs, i have seen a lot of bad tries.... think about the final product that you want, and price out a few stair contractors to see if your were told a correct pricing for the job or if the builder put a big markup on a subcontractor

Jim Harris
Stair Design / Iron Design
kimdee24
13 years ago
I wish I had known that when I was building my deck stairs. The last step down ended up being uncomfortable.
Steve Grimes
13 years ago
last modified: 13 years ago
I created a quick sketchup of the first and last riser problem created by applying treads over existing treads. The brown rectangles are the original treads, each original riser in the picture is 7". The red rectangles are the applied treads and the resulting riser heights are shown to the left of each riser.