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Woodworking Remodeling Flooring

Can you put wood ONLY where carpet runner was on stairs?

3 years ago

We are putting down new White oak hardwood floors and have a curved staircase. So my contractor told his floor guy to leave the red oak fake side treads under the spindles and only put white oak between the end caps. We asked twice if it was going to look ok because he was using wood filler where the white and red oak met. Also, the grain of the red oak is vertical vs the white oak which is horizontal. He kept saying “oh yeah no problem.” We ended up Wanting a natural floor look and of course the stairs look dreadful. in fact, they looked dreadful when they were being done,

Should he have even tried to not take off the spindles and railing? He now wants us to pay to do the stairs again and even tried to profit off the redo. Advice please?

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Comments (2)

PRO
Labra Design Build
3 years ago
So sorry to hear that! I can't imagine any responsible contractor would feel that would be appropriate or look okay. I have never seen a stairway that would look like that and I bet he has never either. I wish I had good advice going forward, but I can only offer one recommendation and that would be to use someone else to do it properly. He doesn't deserve more work after this.
angiedarden58 thanked Labra Design Build
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
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)?
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The potential problems with removal of runner are dependent upon how the runner was installed. Some dearies actually tack the runner to the steps, tread and riser. Ouch, because removal leaves those holes to be filled and stained to match (very difficult to conceal). An alternative method is to use carpet bars which come in wood or metal, in an assortment of finishes. This is slightly more expensive but imo, also *looks* more luxurious. The carpet is barred at the back of the tread where it meets the riser; best practice has the runner tacked beneath each tread rather than slanted from top-front to the back of the next lower riser. Note that under-tread tacking also uses the most running feet of carpet, so the most finished appearance is going to cost. There are several other methods, so discuss intent with the installer before s/he does the work. One thing for sure, is to not use any sort of sticky-back tape: it either doesn't hold well, or holds too well and removel is labor-intensive. Because of the carpet pile height, if possible choose treads that are slightly deeper than usual so as to maintain fully safe depth.
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I agree with Treb - I don't think it would be inappropriate to replace the treads that are under the carpet (I assume particle board - that's what mine are) with solid wood tread that fit between the wall and the wood ends. If you use a distinctly lighter colored wood for the treads, it will look intentional. I'm afraid trying to match the existing wood would be really hard, without refinishing the ends (and that would be expensive). Carpet on stairs is going to get dirty, is hard to clean, and gets a lot of wear. Eventually it needs to be replaced Solid wood stair treads will last the life of the house. Wood may be more expensive up front, but I think it would be a good investment, especially if you plant to stay in the house a long time.
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we have what you're talking about, and tho I like it I wish we had all wood stairs. But safety is an issue there since they can be slippery in sock feet. The ends of the steps are wood (so 3/4 in. thick) and then the carpet is in the middle which makes it flush with the ends of the steps. The wood ends are maybe 5-6 in. wide (on each side). It has the appearance of a wood step with carpet on it, but the carpet and wood (on the ends) are the same level. Does that make sense? Here are the only pics I could find on my computer of our steps (well, part of them haha) they aren't good quality but maybe you can get an idea of what they look like.
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cand1781, I showed your pattern to my husband. He said it's not going to line up if you look at each individual step. Being a curved staircase you'd have to square it at the front of each step but the overall affect will look good and he's never had anyone complain (he's world famous for his staircase runners) :) BTW, there is a difference between a runner and carpeted stairs. A runner has to be templated and bound and goes over an existing wood staircase vs installed over a subfloor with stained wood (or tile) on each side of the stair. Is that what you're doing? What he said would work better is a smaller pattern or something with florals and/or vines, but what you're looking at will be fine if it's installed correctly. This is the only picture I have. It's winding but a much smaller pattern (if it even is a pattern). I just happen to be with him one day when he needed to stop by this house and tie in the stair with the landing at the top.
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