How To Repair Wooden Stair Treads

Deck stair treads–especially Forepart deck stair treads–are prone to coming loose, detaching, and fifty-fifty breaking. This article and video from The Honest Carpenter volition testify you how to supercede individual deck stair treads. It will also requite you great tip on how to make deck treads stronger in the future!

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Tool List:

Big Screwdriver–best tool for careful demo

Pry Bar–all the leverage you need!

Nail Puller (Nippers)

Makita 7 1/4″Circular Saw

Stanley Powerlock 25′ Tape Measure

Vaughn twenty oz. Framing Hammer

Swanson Speed Foursquare

Dewalt Drill Commuter Combo Kit

Newborn Drip-Gratis Caulking Gun

Porter-Cablevision Cordless Brad Nailer (optional)

Materials:

two-i/2″ Outside Class Screws

Adhesive (PL Premium Loctite)

5/four Deck Board

Scrap Treated Wood

2″ Brad Nails (optional)

Why Deck Treads Neglect

The very front end of a stair tread is chosen "nosing".

Deck stair treads are a big problem area on decks, and ane that poses a real safety business concern.

This is because on most decks, the front tread oftentimes overhangs the riser beneath. Deck lumber dries out, nails loosen up, and the activity of feet hitting the border pries these boards up like a seesaw. Weight can even cause boards to carve up along grain lines and just pause at the forepart border.

(The back tread often lasts a lot longer because information technology'due south meliorate supported. But, the tips for this repair apply just as well to the back tread if it's showing wearable and tear.)

Step 1. How To Demo Deck Stair Treads

Ethan prying up a tread with a sabotage screwdriver

The most important matter most replacing deck stair treads is to do information technology very advisedly. I start by very gently trying to pry up the board with a big screwdriver. I don't use too much force.

If a board is down actually tight, I sometimes utilise that aforementioned screwdriver, and a hammer, to interruption the lath into pieces. I bulldoze the screwdriver in right beside the nail heads. This forces the woodgrain effectually nail heads to split, so the nails have zippo to hold onto, and I tin can pull the board out in pieces.

Here's the reason why I exercise information technology this way: the stair stringer—the structural slice below—is really very weak in places.

Exist careful non to impairment the stringers when you demo the treads.

It'southward shaped like a sawtooth, and that grain runs diagonally across the teeth of this saw. Those diagonal lines are places where the stair can Easily fracture, and so yous want to avert breaking them.

Don't striking them sideways, and don't force too much leverage down on them. That'southward why I stubborn deck boards. If board needs just a picayune extra forcefulness, I will sometimes use a pry bar, but I do it as slowly every bit possible.

Once the lumber is up, I carefully pry out nails with a nail puller if they will come up. Simply, if they don't desire to pry out, they can also be driven all the way in with a hammer.

I go through procedure this for all the treads I'grand replacing, and I also make clean out any gunk that has collected around the boards. I use a five-in-one to cleave out this stuff.

Pace 2. Measure And Cutting New Deck Stair Treads

Measure the distance to the outside of the stringers.

When the old treads are gone, I measure for the new ones. I frequently exercise this by just measuring any remaining boards. Simply, if that'south not an option, you lot tin pull from the exterior border of 1 stringer, to the exterior edge of another.

The replacement lumber I'm using is standard 5/iv decking. It's one inch thick, and 5-ane/ii" broad.

I use a circular saw to make my cuts. But first, I want to square upward the terminate of the board to make certain that it'south clean and directly. I do this by using a speed square as a guide for my saw. I just clamp the speed square in place with my hand, and then guide the border of the sole plate against it.

Now I can pull a measurement from this foursquare end and brand a crows foot mark where I want information technology. I use my speed square and pencil to make a directly line at this point.

(Keep in mind that I'm using piece of 2x scrap every bit a prop cake to make these cuts. This keeps my saw upward off the ground, and creates a niggling leverage and then the board can fall away after the cut, preventing blade binding.)

One time over again using the speed square equally guide, I line upwards the outside of the blade molar with the plot line, and make my cutting.

I cut all of my replacement pieces at in one case and gear up them in place on the stair stringers to bank check their fit. Everything looks skilful, so I'm going to adhere them. But, I like to take some extra precautions to prevent aforementioned former problems from happening once more.

Footstep 3. Adhere New Deck Stair Treads

Basically, when replacing these front end treads, I like to utilize a combination of screws and agglutinative, and here's why.

Observe how the tops of the stringers show these cracks. This is a natural result of fasteners splitting the end grain. If I were to adhere directly back in with fasteners, they would probably overstate these cracks, and they might not fifty-fifty grip anything.

So, I like to apply a small bead of adhesive to the stringer tops. Simply enough for the side by side tread to mush down into it. I'm using PL Premium Loctite, a very stiff adhesive, that bonds quickly.

Calculation adhesive does brand this repair more than or less permanent. But, it seems highly unlikely to me that these stringers would survive a second repair. Then, I don't mind making these treads permanent, because I think whatever future repairs would involve full stinger replacement.

With a picayune glue in place, I push the board downward into the bead, and leave a pocket-size 1/8" gap between the 2 boards.

Driving a ceramic-coated spiral to secure the tread

For fasteners, I e'er employ screws. They hold much tighter than nails. These are two-1/2" exterior form screws. I use an 1/8" bit to pre-drill airplane pilot holes, lining them upwardly with the center of the stringer. I then use an bear on driver to drive a screw in, and countersink it so the head is recessed but a trivial bit.

I do that for each stringer. But, for the front of the board, I often don't trust the stringer at that place because the forest grain is so sketchy. And then, instead, I like to advisedly put a screw down into the riser. I merely line information technology up by eye, pre-drill, and send a screw in the same way. I echo the process for the other steps.

Pace four. Add Support For Some Deck Boards

A small slice of wood has been added to support the nosing.

I want to bring upward one other tip that I recall is really important. Downward on the lesser footstep, the tread overhang is more than an inch, and that'southward just besides much. I feel like information technology'south almost guaranteed to interruption.

And so, sometimes what I do in this situation is add a lilliputian ledger strip beneath it. I use an old dog-ear lookout left over from another projection. These are five/viii" thick, which is just right.

I set my tabular array saw at a 45 degree angle, and rip well-nigh half of this board down. I cut information technology to the length of the lesser step with my circular saw. And then, I run adhesive on the dorsum and top, and mush it into place below the overhang of the stride, and I shoot information technology with several two" brad nails.

When this dries upward, it will give a little actress support to that tread, and I tin can pretty much ensure that it won't suspension or disassemble over time. In a few weeks, the new treads will be ready for stain and weather seal.

Wrap-Upwardly

That's how you replace deck stair treads. Thanks for reading the article and watching the video! If you take any questions, please ask them downward below in the comments section of our YouTube channel.