Solid wood stairs or carpet on stairs...which would you do?
jencjudd
14 years ago
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flseadog
14 years agosue36
14 years agoRelated Discussions
changing carpeted stairs to wood
Comments (2)For the longest lasting with the least maintanance treads, use 1" thick oak treads---you can buy them at lumber yards. Locally, those are about $26 each and already have the bull nosed edge. However, the existing treads may have to be removed, since there are minimum/maxumum heights for steps. I usually use 1/4" oak plywood installed over 3/4" construction ply risers....See Morehave you replaced carpeted stairs with wood?
Comments (15)My carpeted stairs were one thing in this house I hated when we bought it. It was a good grade carpet but it was cream colored and impossible to keep looking clean. It became as worn from vacuuming and cleaning as it did from use. Our main floor was hardwood but the upstairs rooms had that same carpet. Since it was new when we bought and other things were priorities - time and money-wise - I lived with it for 12 years. When we remodeled the kitchen in 2014 we had the same flooring person who refinished the downstairs install wood upstairs & on the stairway. Best thing we've ever done to this home. My dogs were familiar with bare wood stairs because we have them in our lake place. They trod a bit more gingerly the first week or so, but adjusted quickly. Obviously, there's more sound than with carpet. But even when we have guests with kids who stay with us I don't find it bad. The one thing I'd caution about is if you wear just socks in the house, it can be slippery. We wear slippers in winter & sandals designated for indoor wear only in summertime. Cost-wise, like anything else you do in your home, I would want to hire someone who is reputable and does quality work. You don't have to break the bank, but consider you're talking about a permanent fixture of your home....See Morestairs dilemma- keep the carpet? stairs dilemma-to keep the carpet to
Comments (4)Well, if you decide to stay with the solid tread/risers (IMHO... the best, but I'm biased), and you remove the side boards... the best application would be to replace the treads, because if you keep them, the exposed ends would need to have, what we call "returns", and it's probably not feasible to add them to the existing treads....See MoreCan you put wood ONLY where carpet runner was on stairs?
Comments (2)If you paid for a 'retread' then you might only get new wood on the treads. If you paid for the spindles to be removed, the Red Oak removed and replaced with matching white oak, then you have a right to be upset. It all depends on the contract. Stairs are tricky. They are expensive, they are tiring, they are tricky and then are (once again) expensive. **If your original talk (ie. contract) spoke about staining, the GC (not a wood professional by any stretch of the imagination) would assume the two woods could be matched once stain went down (very common to work this way). If you then changed your mind and went with a natural finish, the Red Oak stringers became a liability that never were properly addressed after that (ie. paid for removal). Did your GC use a finishing Carpenter? If s/he did not, the GC was saving money. What used to be on the stair treads? Do you have photos of before (old coverings) and after (new wood with finish)?...See Morejencjudd
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