Anybody ever replace carpet on stairs with "false treads?"

[jerp]

Thinking about starting a home improvement project and I thought I'd see if any of you have some input. The stairs in our house have the original builder grade carpet and it needs to go. We much prefer the look of wood treads but under the carpet the original treads are just what look like rough 2x12s. Instead of trying to replace the entire tread, I see that you can buy "false treads" or "tread caps". These are either hardwood or laminate, maybe 3/8" thick with a built-in bullnose on the front. You also order risers either to match the wood or primed and can be painted white. Anybody done this before? It does not look especially difficult but it adds up to a fairly expensive project even if I do it myself...

[bwssr]

Go laminate on the treads, the 1/4" mdf for the risers..paint the risers first and install, then the treads

[Ironman]

Interested as well. Need to get my house ready to sell. Carpet on stairs needs to go.

[pblaetz]

Thinking about starting a home improvement project and I thought I'd see if any of you have some input. The stairs in our house have the original builder grade carpet and it needs to go. We much prefer the look of wood treads but under the carpet the original treads are just what look like rough 2x12s. Instead of trying to replace the entire tread, I see that you can buy "false treads" or "tread caps". These are either hardwood or laminate, maybe 3/8" thick with a built-in bullnose on the front. You also order risers either to match the wood or primed and can be painted white. Anybody done this before? It does not look especially difficult but it adds up to a fairly expensive project even if I do it myself...

Yes, as a contractor we had done this a few times. They came out great. Glue and nail them. If you have hardwood now don't use a laminate. Also measure really well or template them as steps are never perfectly square.

[jerp]

Yes, as a contractor we had done this a few times. They came out great. Glue and nail them. If you have hardwood now don't use a laminate. Also measure really well or template them as steps are never perfectly square.

Thanks for that. After reading your tip I measured each one and there is more variance than I could see from just eyeballing. I guess the carpet covered some sloppy carpentry. Both Home Depot and Lowe's carry these:

http://www.stairtek.com/index.php?view=retread

Pretty expensive - about $50 per step if you use oak risers but installation does not look too difficult. Tedious maybe, but not difficult .

[sweetinlow660]

Most all stairs are built just like yours. It is the builders cone add to what he wanted to finish them out with. There should be no problem having an experienced trim/hardwood floor man come in and put a hard wood skin on them.

[chongo]

Thanks for that. After reading your tip I measured each one and there is more variance than I could see from just eyeballing. I guess the carpet covered some sloppy carpentry. Both Home Depot and Lowe's carry these:

http://www.stairtek.com/index.php?view=retread

Pretty expensive - about $50 per step if you use oak risers but installation does not look too difficult. Tedious maybe, but not difficult .

This is a really neat product, where did you see the $50 pricing - in store?

That could add up really quick but it sure would make a difference. Let us know if you decide to go this route.

[Evenin'only]

I've done it a few times. I usually build out the riser(riser shim in the stairtek attachment) then what ever flooring you go with will either have a flush bull nose or a lay on top bull nose. They will usually come in about 10' lengths then cut to fit

[Quackerbox]

Don't have stairs but I did see a cool idea the other day. People had made a hidden space under the first 4 or 5 steps. All 5 lifted up exposing a place to hide people or valuables.

Just throwing it out

[jerp]

This is a really neat product, where did you see the $50 pricing - in store?
That could add up really quick but it sure would make a difference. Let us know if you decide to go this route.

At both Lowe's and HD it is about $50 if you get the prefinished treads and oak risers. Less expensive if you get unfinished treads and go with white risers. As mentioned above you can make risers out of MDF and paint them yourself. My only sticking point is what to do about the landing we have halfway up. I thought you could lay the oak risers flat on the landing but they are of a different thickness than the treads so they won't match-up. I sent an email to StairTek customer service to see what they recommend for landings.

[chongo]

Please share what you find out, I had the same question about the landing.

[tommyjoe]

Oh Yeah. Did laminate and right after the "nose" piece i put in a strip of Walnut. Looks great. Just milled it down and glued it

[cbd10pt]

At both Lowe's and HD it is about $50 if you get the prefinished treads and oak risers. Less expensive if you get unfinished treads and go with white risers. As mentioned above you can make risers out of MDF and paint them yourself. My only sticking point is what to do about the landing we have halfway up. I thought you could lay the oak risers flat on the landing but they are of a different thickness than the treads so they won't match-up. I sent an email to StairTek customer service to see what they recommend for landings.

Just rip off or make a bull nose @ the landing then install the appropriate thickness of plywood on the landing to shim a matching oak flooring up to the same height

[Honker]

did the same thing

We took on this project a couple of years ago. Pulled off the carpet and removed the 2" x 12" treads, which was the biggest part of the project. We bought unfinished oak treads that came with a bull nose from Home Depot. Cut them to the right width, stained them and then painstakingly added 5 coats of polyurethane. Before nailing in place, I added some liquid-nails (industrial glue) and the new treads have never squeaked.

The best part was the dead space we reclaimed from under the stairs. We added built-in shelving unit that also serves as a hidden door. Its doubled our pantry space. Here's a few photos...

[jerp]

That looks great Honker - just the look I'm going for