repairing old creaky stair treads

barnsley7

barnsley7

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I want to repair an old creaky staircase for a friend on a small budget.

it's an old house and taking out the existing staircase or treads are not an option. So can I just place a piece of hardwood or plywood straight on top of each existing tread.
There will be a carpet going on top with underlay so could this work?

As for the thickness of the wood - probably the minimum I can get away with - 10mm?,

Would I have to cut the bullnose off the existing stair tread and round off again or can I just place the new tread straight on top and give that a bit of a bevel edge?
 
barnsley7 said:
Would I have to cut the bullnose off the existing stair tread and round off again or can I just place the new tread straight on top and give that a bit of a bevel edge?
Click to expand...
Don't ever cut the bullnose off!!!

Stair Parts for Closed Riser Stairs.png


On a properly made stair (as opposed to a Victorian bodge job), on the underside of the treads, just behind the bullnose, there is a groove into which the top of the riser is fitted (see illustration above). Cut away the bullnose and you are cutting away the part of the tread which holds the riser in place. When installing overcladding it is quite normal to install a J-or L-section tread cover which covers the top and front of the tread, but to keep the going even you do need to cover all the treads
 
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Yes, that's the sort of thing. You can also get them to match laminate and engineered floor as well as what the call "hockey stick" moulding in solid wood
 
If there's a carpet going on top with underlay, I'm not sure why I'd need anything else like an L section on top?
Thought I could just take the new piece of wood straight to the edge and round that off a bit?
 
The main thing is not to chop the nosing off like you were suggesting at the top of this thread. That can weaken the stairs (if you look at the cross drawing I posted it should be possible to see why). With a bull nose tread when you "plate" the tread you might end up with a gap or step which will telegraph through the carpet if you don't cover the old nosing
 
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