"Lew Hodgett" writes:

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.
snip

If you truly mean, "I am not concerned about the visual look of the
crack", then the repair is fairly straight forward.

I actually meant I am not concerned about the visual look of the crack
so long as it looks like an authentic crack that comes from "natural"
aging and wear-and-tear. A number of the wide pine boards in some of our
rooms have cracks (though they are well supported by the sub-floor)
which I have been told are considered to be a "plus" rather than a
defect to be repaired.

I'm not sure I am crazy about the look of an obvious epoxy repair on our
front stairs -- though perhaps with tinting and shaping, I could make it
look more natural...


Using a Fein MultiMaster with a straight blade, plunge completely thru
the tread in the crack, then clean out the crack at least 1/8" wide or
what ever is necessary to remove all damaged tread material.

Damn I just bought a Harbor Freight variable stool multifunction tool
and I so want to use it so I can validate my tool buying craze to my
SWMBO.

The width of the cut is not important as long as it is wide enough to
allow the thickened epoxy to freely flow and fill the cut.

On the bottom side of the tread, cover the saw cut with some duct tape
which gets removed later.

Mix up some SLOW epoxy, thickened slightly with micro-balloons, and
pour into crack about 1/4" deep. (Just enough to seal the cut
completely against the duct tape.

And I love playing with all my West System potions...
..
Have fun.
Yeah, but I think I will have to resist the temptation to do it the fun
way and instead try to make the repair less visible by accessing the
underside of the stairs.... less fun though and I really don't enjoy
ripping out and then replacing plaster-lathe...

Thanks for the suggestions and particularly the epoxy instructions --
they will definitely come in handy on many future repairs...