Steps ?

[Glennbear]

This morning I received an e-mail from my son-n-law in CT. Before I reply I was hoping my NCWW brethern could share their collective suggestions/wisdom:

Hi Dad,

Need some wood advice.
We're thinking about replacing the treads on the basement stairs, as we are improving the class of the basement as a whole. We can't really afford about $1000 to use oak, but I thought maybe solid pine boards with some nice poly would look nice. Of course, pine being so soft, I am asking if you know of any reasonably priced products that would impact a particularly hard finish to them, or other alternatives.
Thanks!

Tom

 

[Mike Davis]

The stairway in my home is 99 years old, solid pine and a little worn. For the time of the forties to the 90s it had no finish (not sure before then), it was then coated in polyurethane and nothing since then. Still looks pretty good.

So, I'd say give it a good coat of poly every twenty years and he'll be good to go.

 

[mkepke]

Southern Yellow pine is the hardest+cheapest+most readily available wood that springs to mind.

The daughter is not a wwker, Tom ?

-Mark

 

[Glennbear]

Southern Yellow pine is the hardest+cheapest+most readily available wood that springs to mind.

The daughter is not a wwker, Tom ?

-Mark

My SIL Tom and my daughter Jessica both engineer nuclear submarines for a living. Tom is just getting into the thrills of home ownership and woodworking. A few weeks ago they came down to VA and I sent them back to CT with my surplus Skil TS to help get him started. :wsmile:

 

[Bas]

Lowe's sells oak stair treads for $24/ each. I don't know how big this basement stairs is, but if it's 15 steps that comes to about $375 - a far cry from $1000. Of course, this assumes just the treads, not the risers.Of course, you can make your own stair treads without too much effort. It's nothing but a board with a bullnose when you think about it. And if you don't mind a glueline, it should be pretty cheap.

But I'm also a big fan of pine. All that spruce pine has given other pine like SYP a bad rap. If properly installed, it should last a _long_ time.

 

[froglips]

He may wish to look at poplar. Kelly Mehler did his shop/school stairs in it, and its held up great.

Ash is another oak-like substitute that might save him some money.

Jim

 

[Trent Mason]

My boss and I made his stairs out of Oak. Just went to the local wood store and bought some 4/4 boards. I think he had about 13 to 15 stairs. I can't remember what he paid /bf, but it was WAY cheaper than Lowes. I want to say he spent maybe $200 if that for the wood, cut them to length, then edge-glued, shaped, routed, sanded, finished (probably poly). HTH. :icon_thum

 

[scsmith42]

if you know of any reasonably priced products that would impact a particularly hard finish to them, or other alternatives.
Thanks!

Tom

Glenn - one of the hardest floor finishes that I know of is called "moisture cure urethane". It is ranked either at the top or near the top of the comparison charts in terms of scratch resistance, abrasion resistance, as well as water and alcohol resistance. They will need to wear a respirator when they apply it, but reputedly it continues to harden over time, and is the finish of choice for high traffic areas such as shopping centers, etc.

It is primarily available from professional flooring supply stores.

Here is a link to info about it:

http://www.harvesterfloors.com/Merc...e_Code=harvester&Category_Code=finishes_12_01

The non-yellowing is the best option.

Regards,

Scott

 

[Steve W]

SYP is not as available in Conn. but fir is MUCH more available. In fact, many older houses up there use fir as the flooring on the second floors of "less-fancy" houses because it cost less than maple or oak. I had a 1914 foursquare in Mass. years ago that was all fir-floored upstairs and on the stair treads going to the second floor. those treads are still holding up (as of 2005 when I revisited the house) after 90+ years.