I've been mulling this one for a while and now 'er indoors has decided
that we need to move on it(!)

Our stairs are a bit unusual in that they are hardwood and obviously
designed to be a 'feature' of the open plan design of the house. As
with any other feature, this comes with a penalty: In this case that
the hardwood has been damaged over time (mostly by a previous owner
hammering things into the sides etc), but also that the bare treads
are pretty noisy, so were carpeted before we bought the place.

Now the carpet has worn, particularly at the edge of each tread, and
one reason for this is that these are cut square, unlike the curved
'nose' that is normal in carpeted stairs. So I have a number of
options, including taking the carpet off and leaving them bare (and
noisy) or, preferred by SWMBO, replacing the carpet. There seems
little point in replacing the carpet on a square edge, as it'll only
wear again, but how can I put a bit of a curve there?
I could run a router across but this won't make it to each end as the
string (and the wall on one side) will mean this stops before the ends
(taking the treads out would pretty much involve demolishing the
house, so no mileage there).
I guess a small radius would solve most of the wear problem without
causing enormous stretch problems with the carpet but is there
something else I can use, other than a router, that would allow me to
form a radius all the way to the edge? A hand-tool based approach
would seem unlikely, simply in terms of getting a good regular finish,
and I'm not sure that an angle grinder, SDS drill or chain saw would
necessarily do this job, before anyone suggests them.....

Much as sanding is a poor way to do extensive shaping of wood, in this
case using the router to take off what you can, followed by one of
those random-orbit or dual-action sanders designed for fast material
removal, sounds the pragmatic approach.

Get some dust extraction too.

This is a good beast - and I'm sure I paid quite a bit less than that
on a trade stand:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-M...ack-780322.htm

GMM wrote:


I guess a small radius would solve most of the wear problem without
causing enormous stretch problems with the carpet but is there
something else I can use, other than a router, that would allow me to
form a radius all the way to the edge? A hand-tool based approach
would seem unlikely, simply in terms of getting a good regular finish,
and I'm not sure that an angle grinder, SDS drill or chain saw would
necessarily do this job, before anyone suggests them.....

Beg, borrow or steal a laminate trimmer (such as Makita 3703) which
doubles-up as a compact router (make sure it takes standard 1/4" router
bits and make sure that the bit you use is rated for 30,000rpm). Use
this to round over as much as you can, then sand the rest.

On 17 Apr, 13:52, GMM wrote:
I've been mulling this one for a while and now 'er indoors has decided
that we need to move on it(!)

Our stairs are a bit unusual in that they are hardwood and obviously
designed to be a 'feature' of the open plan design of the house. As
with any other feature, this comes with a penalty: In this case that
the hardwood has been damaged over time (mostly by a previous owner
hammering things into the sides etc), but also that the bare treads
are pretty noisy, so were carpeted before we bought the place.

Now the carpet has worn, particularly at the edge of each tread, and
one reason for this is that these are cut square, unlike the curved
'nose' that is normal in carpeted stairs. So I have a number of
options, including taking the carpet off and leaving them bare (and
noisy) or, preferred by SWMBO, replacing the carpet. There seems
little point in replacing the carpet on a square edge, as it'll only
wear again, but how can I put a bit of a curve there?
I could run a router across but this won't make it to each end as the
string (and the wall on one side) will mean this stops before the ends
(taking the treads out would pretty much involve demolishing the
house, so no mileage there).
I guess a small radius would solve most of the wear problem without
causing enormous stretch problems with the carpet but is there
something else I can use, other than a router, that would allow me to
form a radius all the way to the edge? A hand-tool based approach
would seem unlikely, simply in terms of getting a good regular finish,
and I'm not sure that an angle grinder, SDS drill or chain saw would
necessarily do this job, before anyone suggests them.....

Route the bit you can get at (chamfer/taper it out at each end
(darn!...what's the correct expression?).
Then fit a stair "runner" carpet up the middle of the treads leaving
the unrouted edges of the treads clear - tidy up and "varnish" these
edges as necess to match rest - assuming they are all hardwood it
could look nice?

cheers
jim

In article
,
GMM wrote:
Now the carpet has worn, particularly at the edge of each tread, and
one reason for this is that these are cut square, unlike the curved
'nose' that is normal in carpeted stairs. So I have a number of
options, including taking the carpet off and leaving them bare (and
noisy) or, preferred by SWMBO, replacing the carpet. There seems
little point in replacing the carpet on a square edge, as it'll only
wear again, but how can I put a bit of a curve there?
I could run a router across but this won't make it to each end as the
string (and the wall on one side) will mean this stops before the ends
(taking the treads out would pretty much involve demolishing the
house, so no mileage there).

Fix a bull nose moulding to the front of each tread? That's how it was
done here many many years ago.

--
*Who is this General Failure chap anyway - and why is he reading my HD? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

GMM wrote:

I guess a small radius would solve most of the wear problem without
causing enormous stretch problems with the carpet but is there
something else I can use, other than a router, that would allow me to
form a radius all the way to the edge? A hand-tool based approach
would seem unlikely, simply in terms of getting a good regular finish,
and I'm not sure that an angle grinder, SDS drill or chain saw would
necessarily do this job, before anyone suggests them.....

I was going to suggest routing just the centre section and leaving 3"
either side square - but Jim beat me to it. ;-)

I would have thought that would let you tart up the edges and have them
on show (so you retain some of the benefit of the hardwood), while
preventing the stair runner for wearing too fast. If you fix the runner
with proper stair rods, then you can also shift it up or down
periodically to stop it wearing too much on the nose in the first place.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

I guess if I route (that doesn't look right, but I guess that's what
you do with a router!) as far as I can then get a carpet to fit that
width (the shops seem to only want to sell cut carpet and the old-type
stair runners), it should work.

Then it'll be a matter of how to tart the edges up - Looks like I'll
be learning a lot about restoring hardwood in the near future.....

"GMM" wrote in message
...
I've been mulling this one for a while and now 'er indoors has decided
that we need to move on it(!)

Our stairs are a bit unusual in that they are hardwood and obviously
designed to be a 'feature' of the open plan design of the house. As
with any other feature, this comes with a penalty: In this case that
the hardwood has been damaged over time (mostly by a previous owner
hammering things into the sides etc), but also that the bare treads
are pretty noisy, so were carpeted before we bought the place.

Now the carpet has worn, particularly at the edge of each tread, and
one reason for this is that these are cut square, unlike the curved
'nose' that is normal in carpeted stairs. So I have a number of
options, including taking the carpet off and leaving them bare (and
noisy) or, preferred by SWMBO, replacing the carpet. There seems
little point in replacing the carpet on a square edge, as it'll only
wear again, but how can I put a bit of a curve there?

People normally only walk up the centre of a staircase, so, if the sides of
the treads look good enough as bare wood, you don't really need to cover
more than about 2/3 of the width at the centre, which would overcome the
problem of not being able to round off close to the sides.

Colin Bignell

GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

I guess if I route (that doesn't look right, but I guess that's what
you do with a router!)

Lol, you rout with a router ;-P

GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

Ah, you mean open or cut string as well as open riser?

A bit liek:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?..._String_Stairs

I guess if I route (that doesn't look right, but I guess that's what
you do with a router!) as far as I can then get a carpet to fit that
width (the shops seem to only want to sell cut carpet and the old-type
stair runners), it should work.

I suppose you could get some carpet tiles and cut one down for each
tread. Use the hard floor to carpet starting bead around each edge of
the tile (mitred at the corners).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

Ah, you mean open or cut string as well as open riser?

A bit liek:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?..._String_Stairs

What do you use to draw those really neat pictures John?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Dave Osborne writes:

GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

I guess if I route (that doesn't look right, but I guess that's what
you do with a router!)

Lol, you rout with a router ;-P

So you do, but I'd say that rout is the funnier word, since
the meanings include "snore, roar, belch, shout (at dogs),
rush, stir vigorously, beat severely, herd, behave
riotously, scour, ride over, poke about, rummage" (OED,
which says router can also be used as the verb).

Routing for me definitely includes roaring (if I get it
wrong).

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2009-01-31)

On 17 Apr, 20:08, John Rumm wrote:
GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

Ah, you mean open or cut string as well as open riser?

A bit liek:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?..._String_Stairs

I guess if I route (that doesn't look right, but I guess that's what
you do with a router!) as far as I can *then get *a carpet to fit that
width (the shops seem to only want to sell cut carpet and the old-type
stair runners), it should work.

I suppose you could get some carpet tiles and cut one down for each
tread. Use the hard floor to carpet starting bead around each edge of
the tile (mitred at the corners).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| * * * * *Internode Ltd - *http://www.internode.co.uk* * * * * *|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| * * * *John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk * * * * * * *|
\================================================= ================/

Ahhh....now I know what to call them - Thanks John!

Just like everything in this house - a bit of a pain (I need to put a
bannister on but the kit parts available don't really allow for this
type of layout).

I think the overall feeling is to get a narrower carpet and not sweat
the routing.

Asking here always puts a little focus into these plans - Thanks all !

John Rumm wrote:
GMM wrote:
A good few things to think about there - Thanks chaps!

Of course, one thing I didn't mention is that these stairs are open
(no risers), and the treads sit slightly above the strings, which
makes it all a little more complicated(!)

Ah, you mean open or cut string as well as open riser?

A bit liek:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?..._String_Stairs

I got the impression from 'the treads sit slightly above the strings'
that this type was meant:
http://www.wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index....n_riser_stairs

Either way though, I'd thinking putting a layer of something on the
treads then carpeting would be a lot less work - or adding nosings.


NT

In article
,
wrote:
Either way though, I'd thinking putting a layer of something on the
treads then carpeting would be a lot less work - or adding nosings.

I suggested adding nosings ages ago. It's the obvious way to do it - and
reversible. But obviously doesn't suit the router boys. ;-)

--
Is the hardness of the butter proportional to the softness of the bread?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.