# Changing from carpet stairs to wood stairs



## J187

I dont' think you or anyone else can answer this question before you remove the carpet. What if you remove the carpet and find that the stairs are exactly what you were hoping for underneath? When I took up the carpet in my house, my stairs were wood underneath and in great shape except for one broken one.


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## DIY_user

I agreed. But I just want to have an the idea the amount of work involved before taking things apart. This is a regular house that the builder will use whatever the cheapest material they can find at the time. So I know that it will not be solid wood stair under the carpet. My friend's house (almost the same age, but not built by the same builder) replaced the carpet last year and I saw that the treads are just plywood and the rise is particle board. I suspect that I'll have the same. So I think I'll need to replace the treads and perhaps the rise also. I am looking for suggestion from some one who may have done this before. Perhaps getting the replacement materials for both the tread and rise and all the work involved will costs close to getting a preassembled replacement.


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## troubleseeker

A lot really depends on what is under. I suspect you will need to replace the treads and risers as you suggest. Most houses built to have carpeted stairs use 2x12's for threads.They will need to be removed to install the new treads, which will also have to be "massaged" with shims to keep the riser heights as close to code as possible. It is a lot of work, but doable. The best way to fit the treads is to rip a sheet of 1/4" plywood into 2" strips, then scribe pieces and stick them together with hot melt to make a pattern. Start at the bottom so you can reach from the step above to wedge the bottom of the riser tight to the tread.

Most important, use plenty of construction adhesive to keep moving wood from squeeking against each other.


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## Darylh

I would tear out the carpet and replace with real wood of the same thickness of what your carpet makes up.


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## ncgrogan

I've been doing the same thing this weekend. Ive only got about half the steps done but its coming along nicely. The wood is red oak stained with a "custom" blend of red/brown. I would recommend a table saw for this job though as I had to rip an 1" off of every tread. It also helps to keep your sanity when the walls are crooked and you think you're not cutting straight. Heres some pics


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## jamowa

Very nicely done, NCGrogan. We are setting up for a similar project. How did you make such a nice transition between the hall carpet & the stairs? Likewise we have carpet in the hallway, which someday will be replaced by carpet or cork tiles.


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## Allison1888

*wood stairs*

Boy, what a great transformation. The wood looks great!


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## ncgrogan

Thanks, 
I used a bullnose at the stair/carpet transistion and put it down before the carpet was installed so they could put the carpet right up to it. 

I also ended up putting red oak on the landing


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## lineworkerjoe

*carpet stairs to hardwood stairs*

I pulled up the carpet and as mentioned, and I have 2x12's for treads. Do these have to come off and the hardwood put in its place, and is the a code or rule of thumb, of how tall the riser has to be?


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## Darylh

If you have carpet on the floor on both floors and your just replaceing the carpet on the stairs with real wood you will have to remove the 2x12's and shim each one before installing your new treads to make up the difference in thickness of the carpet so all your risers are the same.


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## Proulx06

I know this is a stupid question, but I can't seem to figure this out on my own. I'm doing the same thing...pulling up carpet on the steps to my basement, I already know there are 2x12's underneath...but WHY do you need to tear them up? Why can't you just put the hardwood treads on top of the 2x12's? I would think the rise would be the same. I know the front of the step (not sure what the technical term is, but the non-traffic part of the step) would need to be covered up, but I would think that some thick plywood or trim board would do well there. What am I missing here?


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## MI-Roger

*Lots of shimming and cutting*

As other have said, your treads are probably 2 x 12's. The oak treads you buy will be thinner than the 2 x's so each tread will need to be securely shimmed to accomodate the difference.

The winders (the pie shaped pieces in the center of your stairway) may only be 3/4 inch plywood pieces with additional blocking for added support. These will be thinner than the new oak treads and will require careful _in situ_ cutting of the stair jacks to accomodate the thicker wood treads. An easier (and probably less expensive) method will be to replace the scabby plywood you are certain to find under the carpet with new 3/4-inch plywood with a quarter sawn (*not* rotary cut) oak veneer and proper oak tread nosing. (that beautiful oak board at the top of ncgrogan's stairs where the carpet stops is a piece of tread nosing).

I haven't looked at the code book recently, but I recall that the riser height for each stair tread cannot vary by more than 1/8-inch from tread to adjacent tread, and that no two treads anywhere on the stairs can vary by more than 3/8 of an inch.

Just scabbing new treads on top of the existing treads is a code violation and a HUGE safety issue. Unequal stair tread heights guarantee every user will trip while going up and/or down the stairs!


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## Gary in WA

" Unequal stair tread heights guarantee every user will trip while going up and/or down the stairs!" ---- notice the lack of handrail in the picture. A newer stair code: http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2006 Stair IRC SCREEN.pdf
Be safe, Gary


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## Brian A

*want to change my stairs*

Your stairs look really great, where did you buy the wood and what brand is it,I am not handy and I am doing my stairs over, They are the stairs that go from my front door up to my apartment. would this be good for all the traffic that will be in and out of my house. Thanks for any suggestions.
































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## RuthGeitgey

We are starting this kind of project, too. We had a uneven and unstable transition from the upper landing and first step at the at the top of the carpeted steps of the house when we bought it but didn't notice it. I took a fall and suffered a broken wrist from it.
We replaced our downstairs living room floors with laminate and love them, so we want to replace the upper landing/captain's walk with laminate and have been advised to do wood steps. We also have a small square landing for a turn 3 steps up from the bottom of the steps we'd like to match with the laminate. We would stain the new wood to match the laminate which is a "hickory" imitation. Any suggestions and or suppliers?

I added this note so I could to advanced mode and get notifications.
Thanks.


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## BlueThumber

*Clever way to hold down the treads*

I am in the same boat. Rough treads have to come out and 5/4 oak will go in. But I hate to drive nails through my new oak treads and think that adhesive -if done right- may suffice. Any opinions? If I need to use nails which? Are there ring shank finish nails? Or do I need to plug?


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