Stair resurfacing project looking for advise/suggestions
This thread is a little long but I wanted to provide sufficient detail and set the context for my questions which are at the end.
The Project
I am going to resurface my staircase. I have a lot of well-seasoned rough sawn ash (5-6% moisture) about 2 Ό x 6 Ό and 8 Ό, mostly face sawn; I expect a fair bit of waste to create good stain grade tread cover. The plan is to leave the stairs undisturbed (except for cutting off the existing bull noses) and create thinner treads (lets call them tread covers) from my ash with a stain grade finish and cover the stringers and risers in Ό paint grade ply.
Tools
I do not own a bandsaw so I will be re-sawing on my General 2HP cabinet table saw (two 3 cuts to re-saw a 6) , jointing on my 6 jointer and planning on my Dewalt planner.
Specifications
The existing stairs are old 1945 vintage paint grade Ό sawn Douglas Fir, a totally enclosed staircase, with three turn steps at the top. 12 risers 3ft long, 9 Ό treads, (except for the three turn steps). I plan to make the tread covers ½ thick with a 1 bull nose. The riser cover ( Ό ply) will be installed after the tread and thus cover a small amount of movement at the back edge of the tread cover.
By the way, the first riser is short due to a main floor change and the top riser is high for a similar reason so the tread re-surface project will actually bring things back closer to building code as far as riser heights are concerned.
The Test
I tested milling the tread covers in two ways:
Option 1) I re-sawed the ash into two sizes (face sawn) and finished to 5/8x6 and a 1-1/8x 4. I cut a deep rabbit in the 4 piece to create a partial ½ thickness and then glued the 6 and 4 pieces together.
Option 2) I ripped the boards into 2x5/8 strips and glued them into a 5/8 x6 piece. I also ripped 2x 1-1/8 strips and glued them into a 1 1/8x 4 piece. This produces something close to a quarter sawn look.
I then planned the test pieces to ½ thick using a jig on my planner to allow for the 1 bull nose overhang. Finally I routed the bull nose and ripped the two test tread cover pieces to their final width.
Concern/Problem
My main concern is wood expansion/contraction as well as warping of the tread cover. I understand that Option 2 would be better in theory however it produces a quarter sawn look with 4 glue joints. We much prefer the face sawn look of option one with just one glue joint.
Questions
- If you have resurfaced a set of stairs and have some learnings to share! Please do.
- Does my approach seem right or am I out to lunch on this. Once I cut the bull noses off I am committed to this project.
- What are your thoughts on expansion for option 1 and 2?
- What thickness would you make the tread cover? Is ½ a good thickness. Obviously I want to minimize the weight I add to the existing stair structure. At the same time I need sufficient thickness to create good solid glue joints and to be able to stand up to the foot traffic.
- How would you fasten the treads? Is expansion an issue or should I just use lots of glue and finish nails?
- Other thoughts and suggestions
Many thanks
Ben