Carpeted stairs are pass?. Hardwood stairs are the way to go, but is it possible to replace carpet on stairs with wood, without destroying the house, living under the mess of a construction site for months on end or selling your only child to the bank? Absolutely, as long as you can answer yes to two questions!
Tearing the house apart to redo your stairs just does not make sense. Besides to build a standard set of hardwood stairs probably costs four times more that taking your existing stairs & changing carpet stairs to hardwood steps, in a wood species to compliment the balance of your home decorating. It’s not unusual to save thousand of dollars. So what do you really need to answer first?
Question number one: Are your existing stairs structurally sound? In other words if I were to get rid of the carpet & add a few (or a lot) of screws to the existing structure would they meet the existing building code & NOT squeak in daily use. If this is not the case then give up & start from scratch before you waste any more money!
Question number two: Are you happy 
with the overall layout of your steps? Are they a suitable size, rising enough on each step to be safe & offering enough depth for you to comfortably plant your foot? Many do-it-yourselfer’s & even those in the trade, have trouble with the math used in constructing steps. There is more. They often think that when you get to the point of wanting to replace carpet on stairs with wood, that you can also play with the overall layout by adding width to an existing set of treads. There is more. They think that if they build up the front of the stair under the nosing it will give them a longer run. They forget that if you do this to every step it kind of cancels each other out, so your layout must be acceptable as is.
Thus, if you’re happy with your existing ‘rise & run,’ then you’re in the ideal position to recover these stairs. Hardwood of any species can be often used for the job, thus here is a list of steps for changing carpet stairs to wood.
Step #1: Remove the carpet, tacker strips and/or any residual glue. Do not worry if the wood gets gouged in the process.
Step #2: Cut off the existing nosing of the construction stairs on both the front & if you have an open end, there too.
Step #3: Remove & store any spindles that may be drilled into the stairs. Leave the newel posts in place. You can work around them, unless of course your intent is to have a new railing as well.
Step #4: Use a matching hardwood veneered plywood to face the back riser & stringer. No point in using solid hardwood here as it does not take any wear in this location & solids are much harder to work with.
Step #5: Glue down solid hardwood plank stairs to the face of your old treads, using construction glue. Glue that is in a caulking tube is the easiest to apply, otherwise use a small notched trowel to spread, especially when applying it to the ?’ plywood or bulges will be obvious.
Step #6: Replace your spindles & trim any corners with appropriate mouldings to hide seams between the plywood used for the riser & that used for the stringer.
Further: It’s best to pre-finish all the plywood & treads before you install. Polyurethanes typically take 48 hours to come to full strength so it can tie up your steps for a bit of time if you chose to do the finishing on site. Besides it’s easier to avoid runs if everything can be finished while on the flat.
For further information on replacing stair treads, changing carpet stairs to wood visit our website: www.woodsthebest.com Lots of information on how to order custom made hardwood steps in the size, shape & wood species that you really want plus all the tips on how to install like a seasoned pro. After all precision woodworking is all in the details.
Karen Lacasse draws on 25+ years of woodworking experience, both as a woodworking teacher & industrial woodworker/owner of Lacasse Fine Wood Products. She is the author behind woodsthebest.com where you’ll find articles & resources to help with all your home renovation projects. She designs woodworking craft patterns & shares her crafting knowledge at theWoodBox.com
