What's the best way to salvage the old wooden treads on my too-shallow basement stairs
l have a sixty-year-old house which is very well built. The bare wooden
stairs to the basement, while structurally sound and level, can be
treacherous to walk down, because the treads are not wide enough for an
adult foot. The rise is comfortable, at 7-1/4 inches, but we have to walk
down the stairs with our feet at an angle to avoid falling. l hate to toss
the treads, since they're in soch good shape otherwise. So, l was wondering
if l could somehow widen them by pulling them up and then adding on an inch or so of wood (or some type of composite material) to either the front end or back of each tread, then put them back in place and cover them with carpet. Would this work? Any other ideas that might work better? to hide the repair job, so l guess that might be kinda dumb if I am trying to save money by using the old wood, huh?
yes you can add a piece of material to the back, this is done
typically in treads that exceed common tread depths like winders. i
recommend using the same species as existing.
quite possibly the reason the tread depth is so shallow. is due to the
fact that you may not have sufficient head clearance to widen them.
typical head room for current codes are around 80'' in newer homes. sounds like you may need to recalculate you existing conditions & put in new stringers. do this by measuring ur total rise & run. ur rise is ur floor to floor height(vertical dimension). & ur run is how much space you have from start of stairs to end (horizontal dim.) if you can provide me with this information i can further help you with the calculations if you decide to go this route.
In order to fix the steps, you'd probably need new stringers.
That is the 2x10 that is cut in a ''saw tooth'' pattern under the treads.
You could add a piece to the existing treads to make them about 9'' wide,
but they won't have any support under the front of them. If they are only
6'' wide now, the stringer is cut the same. If you try to put a 9'' board
on a 6'' stringer, you will have 3'' hanging over the front. A few times
stepping on that, & it is gonna break right off. Good treads are made from 5/4 wood. That is actually 1'' thick after it is finished. The common wood you buy at the store is 4/4, which is reduced to 3/4'' after milling. Measure the thickness of ur treads before you buy the wood. If you're gonna cover them in carpet anyway, why not just cut new ones out of a sheet of 3/4'' plywood? It is strong & durable, & although quite unsightly, you will be covering it anyway.
If the stringers are in good shape, why don't you just pull the
stairs apart and cut some new treads out of 2 X 10? Trying to add material
and make a two-piece tread will be pretty bothersome and will just create
potential problems afterward. Wood is cheap and if you are just going to
cover them with carpet, what is the point of saving 60 year old wood?
yes, you could extend them. take them up and add the
additional piece in the back. Ideally, you would want to replace the
stringers to. they are the (most likely 2 by 8s that the treads are nailed
to..it would easier thought just to install newer threads ...your choice
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