Replacing carpeted stairs with hardwood

[promark747]

I've removed the carpet and am ready to begin the process of cutting the 3.25-inch oak hardwood boards for placement over the wood substrate.  My question is whether it makes more sense to install each course/row of tread boards one at a time and fit/scribe them to the sides as I go, or to arrange the loose boards on my MFT and then use my stair tread tool to transfer the exact dimensions and then cut, in place, with my TS55.  Then I would carry the cut section as a whole over to the stair to be nailed and glued.  I'm thinking that would give me cleaner lines on the sides.

 

[TomE]

If I'm reading this right,

I would suggest making up your tread and riser stock up first by edge gluing and prepping to the proper widths and rough lengths, then go on to fit the stock to the staircase.

Most big box/lumber stores carry oak tread and riser stock ready done if you choose to go that route.

 

[nclemmons]

I'd second the idea of looking for full size treads from the store.  More stable and faster. 

And I think it will look better. 

What's the rise/run on the stairs?

If you choose to make your own from glue ups, do that before measuring and cutting to fit.  You'll get cleaner lines and a better fit on the edges.

 

[Master Carpenter]

I've done both methods you suggest. I find laying out the pieces for a tread and cutting one stair at a time faster. And cutting individual boards more accurate, as you can follow wall irregularities better. My preference is the later and I usually use plywood for my risers, as I think having a joint across the riser looks poor and I'm usually staining nosing to match the hardwood anyway, so staining a piece of ply doesn't add much more time.
As always, the method depends on the goal, speed versus time.

 

[promark747]

Thanks guys.  One last question: if I do make up the treads in advance (to then cut them as a single piece), should I glue the edges and also the tongue and grooves?  I wasn't sure if I need to allow for any expansion.  At the very least, I had planned to glue the groove on the front board (the bullnose).

 

[JimD]

I did this once in our Pittsburgh house and we liked the results as did the buyers.  I put 3/8 thick solid oak flooring over the softwood treads.  I cut the nose off first.  The last piece was a 1 inch think nosing I glued and nailed (with big finish nails) to the softwood tread.  A cove piece under the nosing helped hide the joint.  I filled the plywood risers and painted them.  I dado'd the flooring into the stringers a little.  If I was to do it again, I would just cut it tight to the stringers.  Cutting the dado was a lot of work.  If you try and replace the treads with hardwood, if they are made of softwood and 1.5 inches thick, like mine were, the stringers will not be right for 1 inch hardwood treads.

 

[promark747]

I've run into a bit of an issue...

I decided to make up the stair treads in advance, using unfinished red oak flooring strips (3/4" tongue and groove).  I arranged the pieces to rough dimension (oversized, so I can cut them later to fit) and then glued them together.  I used three of the Wood River panel clamps (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/125392/-58--4-WAY-PRESSURE-CLAMP.aspx?gclid=CMTDxtiAxswCFcJahgodJ4QPRg) which seemed to work perfectly to keep the tread flat as well as the strips' edges compressed.  I left them in the clamps for 24 hours.

After a few days, I noticed that they have begun to cup/warp.  It's as if the top edges of the boards have great glue contact but the bottoms don't...like the top shoulder above the tongue/groove is tight with the adjoining board but perhaps the bottom shoulder is not?

Now I need to figure out whether I'm clamping too hard (though as I said, these particular clamps seem to be clamping very flat/even) or there is some other issue.  It looks like I will have to plane down the treads on both the front (bullnose piece) and the rear to make them flat.

This may be more trouble than it's worth...I may look to buy prefab treads that are already glued up if I have to go through this for 13 treads.

 

[Cheese]

[member=7714]promark747[/member]
The top width of strip flooring is always wider than the bottom width. It's manufactured that way so that any dust/debris at the sub-floor level will not prevent the strips from being tight to one another.

Top width= 1.509"

View attachment 1

Bottom width=1.475"

View attachment 2

I'd suggest purchasing pre-manufactured stair treads to make your life easier.

 

[promark747]

Thanks Cheese...that makes sense. At least I didn't get too far into it before noticing the problem.