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from bottom up the old stairs were removed, the old stringers were removed and used as a pattern ,then insulation and new dry wall was installed , a new stringer was added to the side of one of the old ones , the treads you see temporarily attached to the wall was because access to the up stairs was needed for a few tools , the stringers were reinstalled and one replaced , those are oak treads and hickory risers , #2 pine was used for the sides , a hickory cap and trim will be added after the drywall work is completed .
The oak treads and hickory risers are all rough cut and air dried 16 months in a attic , then planed sanded and ready for the finish , out of 16 stairs only 3 spit out and were not usable that's not too bad in my book , they will be cut and used for a shelf in a closet some where , they were all ripped down and the ends were sanded on the SS mkv, after cost was figured we have a little over 3 dollars a board in the oak treads and less for the risers . when compared to the oak treads at the big box it was hands down a huge savings and well worth the time in the attic ,the SS and planning ahead has saved us a bundle .the ss paid for its self on this job alone !! oh the newel post is 6x6 oak and still needs work lol

Wow, that’s a DRAMATIC improvement over the old stairs!

Will you install a carpet runner? If not, what kind of wood finish are you planning?

I need to build some new steps myself, for the house entry door from my garage. I like the idea of hardwood, but don’t want to have to refinish them very often. So I’m looking for some scuff-resistant tread surface ideas.

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Wow, that’s a DRAMATIC improvement over the old stairs!

Will you install a carpet runner? If not, what kind of wood finish are you planning?

I need to build some new steps myself, for the house entry door from my garage. I like the idea of hardwood, but don’t want to have to refinish them very often. So I’m looking for some scuff-resistant tread surface ideas.

I don't know if this helps, but would you consider either a stair nosing or some type of anti-slip protector to put on top of the tread to serve this purpose? I got searching for these products a while back, but I haven't started on this project yet. I have an open staircase (exposed underneath and no risers) that is wrapped in carpet today. I want to remove the existing carpet and wrap the treads in walnut with mitered edges. Since these will be beefy treads (3-4" thick after being wrapped) with a vulnerable miter exposed where one might step, I have been looking at products like these:

https://www.tmhardware.com/Stair-Nosing/
https://www.progressprofiles.com/en/sta ... s-profiles
https://www.nystrom.com/products/stair-nosings
https://kofflersales.com/p/metal-stair-nosing.asp
https://eagle-aluminum.com/aluminum-thr ... ir-nosing/

There are lots of different materials available to protect stair treads, so it really depends on what look you are going for. For my case, even if I did multiple coats of polyurethane on the treads, with walnut being a relatively soft wood I am concerned with the leading edge of the tread getting chipped and worn away; more so than worried about wear on the top of the stair tread. If I get around to this project, I think I can tolerate having a small metal runner protecting the edge of the stair tread and the first few inches on the top of the stair tread. There will still be plenty of wood left visible even with this. Just a thought of something to consider. If this is of interest, just Google "stair nosing" and/or "stair tread protector" and you will find lots of products to consider.

By the way, the stairs posted in this thread look great.

Beautiful job, and kudos on thinking ahead. Is there a reason for the hickory vs. oak on the risers, or was that just what you happened to have on hand? Actually, looking again at the pictures, the hickory is rather dramatic. Was that your plan?

On protection from wear: Remembering my old tattered stairs runner, I agree that most of the wear is at the nose.

Really nice job ! I really like the contrasting woods. You will definitely need to add something for traction. Smooth finished wood treads are treacherous in socks for instance. We learned that the hard way years ago. It’s painful putting fasteners in your beautiful treads though. From an esthetic and safety point of view I prefer the carpet runner. They make carpet rods to hold the runner in place which reduces the amount of staples into the treads and look great. You can also make your own carpet rod brackets out of wood and just buy the rod which is way cheaper and easy to do on the SS. Making your own brackets adds a really custom look to it.
Paul

masonsailor2 wrote:Really nice job ! I really like the contrasting woods. You will definitely need to add something for traction. Smooth finished wood treads are treacherous in socks for instance. We learned that the hard way years ago. It’s painful putting fasteners in your beautiful treads though. From an esthetic and safety point of view I prefer the carpet runner. They make carpet rods to hold the runner in place which reduces the amount of staples into the treads and look great. You can also make your own carpet rod brackets out of wood and just buy the rod which is way cheaper and easy to do on the SS. Making your own brackets adds a really custom look to it.
Paul

Paul,

I agree with you, especially on the safety and aesthetics...would prefer to not add anything to the look of the wood if I could. For my case with open stair treads, I can't do a carpet runner. Also, I was thinking I would probably try one of the new polymerized oil finishes instead of a poly or lacquer finish, so the surface of the wood wouldn't be very protected, but also not as slippery. That's why I was thinking of adding a decorative type stair nosing on top. My hope is the combination of the less slippery finish with the stair nosing would prevent anyone sliding off the front edge of the stair tread, but I don't know if this will work. I am not ready to tackle this project yet, but I was planning on buying some samples and doing a test case before committing fully to it.

Beautiful work! When you do jobs like these, they truly "pay" for these machines. I have made many times over the cost of my ShopSmiths with the cabinets and tables I have built.

This will be a project you will admire for years to come!

Thanks, I believe the ladies have done a great job considering what hey had to work with, and, being their first time building stairs , the wife did a supper job on the risers ,but then she had a awesome coach lol ,, patting myself on the back !! this is all ,their, work and they made me proud , as to the finish I like the idea of a carpet runner but experience has taught me they can be a trip hazard as well , so still not sure what they will do . I want them to add some decorative walnut bling along the sides of the risers but not sure if they are on board yet. I tell them the bling is what makes the job , they seem to like the plain look, as far as the hickory risers it was planned ,we were gong to make hickory treads but the oak was what we had , I was surprised how well they contrast together ,also was odd we had just enough oak for the job , the hickory grain stands out even more in real life then in the pictures .it is very color full .

Not sure how to rotate the pictures they were downloaded from the cell phone? but the girls have doe a outstanding job