07/14/2025
Stair Retrofits and how they work.
Tired of carpeted stairs? Want the look, durability and customization of hardwood stairs but don't want to pay the high cost of having construction grade pine ripped out and replaced? Then I suggest looking at retrofitting.
First using a worm drive circular saw and then a multitool / hammer the nosing of the original stair is cutback to be flush or a little behind the original riser. Doing this gives a flat surface for the polyurethane glue to adhere to and prevents hollow spots from forming. This is shown in the first and second photos with the area circled in blue showing how far the nosing is cut back.
Next every staple and tack strip is pulled from the original stairs with any nails or screws that are above the surface of the wood are resecured and any high spots sanded down. Once the prep work is done the stair case and surrounding area gets vacuumed to remove all loose debris and dust so the glue stays nice and clean helping guarantee good adhesion. If the old nosing's went into the side stringers the indentations are filled with appropriate compound just incase they might be visible after the new retrofits are installed. This is shown in the third photo.
Next starting from the bottom riser each retrofit piece is measured and cut using a stair gauge to keep the angle and dimensions consistent with the current staircase. They are never as square as the day they were originally installed and over time the house has settled causing minor differences between each and every tread/ riser usually somewhere between 1-5 degrees from zero . Sometimes I stain and finish the retrofits ahead of time if I know what color the homeowner is going to pick or they get finished after installation. The final coat is applied after the retrofits are installed so any damages that occurred during installation can be addressed. This is shown in the fourth picture the floors still have another coat that has to be applied or there would be flooring protection laid around the staircase.
The process is continued tread by tread riser by riser until the top riser is installed then capped off using stair scotia molding and a piece of matching bull nose to transfer to the landing of the next floor. Then all spindles and outer nosing's are installed and the stairs finished to match the floors.
This whole process takes much less time and costs far less than having the staircase completely gutted and rebuilt. Using polyurethane glue allows the glue to accommodate the movement of the wood from changes in humidity without losing adhesion. The best part is these retrofits are perfectly fine to sand and refinish multiple times after installing and are 5/8 inch thick for the treads and 5/16 inch thick for the risers so they hold up to abuse extremely well.
