On Feb 7, 12:08*am, blueman wrote:
JIMMIE writes:
On Feb 6, 10:42*pm, blueman wrote:
One of the 12" wide treads on our main staircase has an ~18" longitudinal
crack in it. As per an earlier thread, the consensus seems to be that
these treads are 150 yr old heart pine.

Here is a link to a pic:
* * *http://96.252.37.8:8080/public/1stFlrTread.jpg

I am not concerned about the visual look of the crack (if anyting it
adds "character") but the area under the crack is not well supported and
gives a bit when you put weight on it -- in fact, the absence of such
support may be the proximate cause of the crack. The crack has probably
been there for many years.

Since replacing the tread is not easily feasible given the old wood, I
would like to repair the tread.

Now removing the tread would not be easy since 2 balustrades are
toenailed into the other side of the tread and removing the entire
bannister and balustrades *seems* to me to be a big job.

So, I was thinking it might be easier for me to access the underside of
the tread from the alcove underneath the stairway by cutting through the
plaster and lathe on the underside of the stairway. My idea would be to
expose enough area so that I could slip another board underneath the
tread to span the crack and add support.

To secure the support, my thought was to cover it with glue (either
polyurethane or epoxy). Assuming that I won't be able to get good
clamping pressure from below, I would run some temporary small gauge screws
through the face of the tread to temporarily clamp the tread and support
board together. Alternatively, I could try to expose more of the stair
underside at the risk of creating more mess and a bigger plaster repair
job.

Before, I go cutting into the plaster and lathe, I wanted to get advice
on whether this is a good approach along with any additional advice or
pointers. Of course, I am open to *any* other better suggestions.

Thanks

I see how they are toenailed in with finishing nails. I dont
understand why unless there is nothing under them to nail to, thats a
scary thought.

Maybe I'm making it too complicated but it seems to me that to remove
the tread, I need to remove the 2 balustrades that are toenailed into
the other end. But then to remove the balustrades, I would need to
remove the bannister. But then to remove the bannister, I would probably
need to disconnect all the other balustrades from the other treads since
they are nailed into the bannister... this seems like a lot of work and
a lot of risk of splitting the balustrades or otherwise affecting the
finish and/or integrity of this old railing system.

I guess I could try to get a blade underneath to cut the nails... but I
worry that between doing that and then trying to remove the tread that I
run the risk of splitting the wood or messing up the finish which would
require more work to repair... So, I thought it might be easier to go
through the underside which hopefully just requires cutting through and
patching plaster..

I dont think the tread would really be that hard to
take out. It looks the the front half of the tread would come on out
with a little persuasion. Then you could glue it back together and
nail it back down. Forgive me for saying so but this doesnt look like
a quality job to start with. You would probably do well jsut to pull
out the tread and replace it with another pine board.

It's not the quality so much as the fact that the stairs are 150 years
old and I doubt I could match the wood that easily - the imperfections
are probably more the patina of age and use across a century and a half
rather than a comment on the initial quality of the install -- heck, how
many stairways installed in new houses today will be around in 150
years... *In any case, it's like antiques where refinishing or replacing
with new parts can often decrease the value even though it looks
"nicer."

Also, there is no "front half" of the tread -- it's one 12" tread that is
split along half of its length.

Sorry but it looks like you can see a lot of finishing nails in the
wood already, maybe Im mistaken but it didnt look like 150 year old
carpentry to me. I meant glue the front half as a result of the split.


Jimmie.