stairway flooring, handrails and antique wrought iron

[Adam Herman]

my last large project in a full house remodel is tackling the front stairs. The full kitchen gut and 1300 sqfeet of hickory flooring was easy compared to the stairs!

currently there is a prefab style staircase that is carpeted now and needs to be hickory. A u shaped affar with 2 sides on the main floor (flat) and the 3rd side is the stairs. There are 3 posts that will be blue pine boxes made with lock miter joints slid over the existing 3.5x3.5 wood. The center sections are antique wrought iron. I have a good amount of s4s 1x4 and 1x6 blue stain pine stock that I got for a good deal to play with and have a small welder. I am having a bit of trouble deciding on:

1. How to build the hand rails
I would like to build these out of blue pine and have them float across the top of the iron. Steel tube with a wood box over it? longest section is about 8 feet (stairs side) and I want the handrail to be about 4 in. tall. I know this won't pass the 4 in sphere test, the antique iron wont either, don't go there.

2. The angled part of the stairs
The current plan is to incorporate short sections cut from the antique iron. I am thinking about cutting them in about 10 in sections (2 verticals each) matching the treads and welding them with new verticals in a step pattern to go up the stairs.

3. How to clad the stairs to match the hickory flooring in the rest of the house. This is one of the dadod skirt boards and held by tiny wedges squeeky 70s prefab deals. The open side is a short wall, not returned treads.
currently: use the hickory flooring and nosing on the treads. This requires cutting off the current "nosing" on the partical board treads and painting the skirts a dark brown to hide them, or tear it all out and re-frame with something useful for attaching wood flooring, skirt boards etc..., a TON of work. is there some kind of middle ground?

i will get a few pictures up tonight.

[Wayne Lomman]

Adam, I have recently done 3 sets of stairs combining wrought iron and timber. They work well and pass the 100mm ball test. Can you post a few pictures or give a few dimensions? Cheers

[Adam Herman]

Adam, I have recently done 3 sets of stairs combining wrought iron and timber. They work well and pass the 100mm ball test. Can you post a few pictures or give a few dimensions? Cheers

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The horizontal section is about 6 feet and the length of the staircase is about 8 feet. The iron for the horizontal sections is ready to get blasted and powder coated. I want to get all of it done at once though. Top rail goes about like the temp. 2x4 is now. I am thinking a 1in Sq steel tube with a u shape pine box over the top. Tops of posts will get chopped off when I install the new box over them. Plan on the boxes is to use lock miters and attach the 2 side that get railing, letting the other 2 float. Rest of the upstairs is 3.25 wide 3/4 thick pre finished solid hickory I put in.

[Wayne Lomman]

Adam, before anything else, make sure the posts are solid. Any wobble has to be gone before you build the modifications.

I agree that a steel cored hand rail is a good idea. The rails will span a long distance unsupported so the steel core will ensure they can't break. Mount the steel firmly before cladding it with timber.

With this style of wrought iron, it looks like the best option is to cut sections that will fit in each tread. You could consider cutting a spear point off at the halfway mark and extending it to the rail for support of both the balusters and the rail.

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This image shows how I mounted the bottom on the steel balusters in the ones I did recently. However, this will only work if you notch out the stringer to the same plane as the treads and risers. This is only possible if the stairs are still supported adequately with all this material cut out. You will have to work that one out. Otherwise, consider cutting all the spears out and re welding them to an angled bar so that they match the stringer. Not many easy options here.

When you get rid of the carpet, I would be inclined to cut the nosing off the treads and do a straight up full overlay with your hickory. The first tread will be 3/4" higher and the top riser will be 3/4" shorter in each flight but all the rest of the treads and risers will be unchanged. Sit some boards loose on the first step and try if it feels OK. If it works, this is the simplest way to turn it into a timber staircase. Before cladding, get under if you can and wedge, glue, cleat or whatever to try and stop the squeaks.

If you have enough hickory, I would clad the stringers with it rather than painting it. If you are worried about getting the angle right, clad the stringers before you clad the steps. That way you only need to get your angles to withing 1/2" which is chainsaw accuracy.

Good luck! It will look bucket loads better when you are done. Cheers