we're replacing the carpet on a flight of stairs. i removed the old carpet
and pads and pulled all the old staples.

i'm guessing the stairs were redone 20+ years ago (if they're original to
the house, they'd be 60 years old). the treads are mortised into the sides
and although accessible from below, i'd have to rip up a ceiling.

but they're mostly in good shape. two however had slight cracks which i
repaired. when u put weight on the cracked treads, the wood either gave a
little or the split widened a little. on each step, i opened the crack up a
little with a rotozip and filled it mostly with a mix of wood glue and
sawdust. after that dried, i sanded the tread and topped off the patch with
some high quality and stainable wood filler. once sanded again, the stairs
look great and there's no give..they're rock solid.

so here's my question - before having the carpet installed, would it make
sense to treat all the treads with something to help prevent any/much future
splitting? i was thinking a water based stain applied to the top. would
that serve to help prolong the life?

David Rothman wrote:
....
so here's my question - before having the carpet installed, would it make
sense to treat all the treads with something to help prevent any/much future
splitting? i was thinking a water based stain applied to the top. would
that serve to help prolong the life?

No--there's nothing a surface coating can do that will make any difference.

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