How would you trim this stair case?

[thammel]

Not my house but a daughter's. She got a deal on the place and had new stairs put in. They sure did a crummy job in terms of trim or basically no trim. I wish they'd extended the wall paneling then run the steps over to that. Timming now looks to be a pain. I can see running a board along the stairs so it touches the nose of each step. Then cutting triangular pieces to fill below that. The hassle I see is making cutouts in those triangular pieces so they nest around each step bullnose.

Anyone have other or easier suggestions?

Thanbks!
Tom

 

[mike93lx]

I see that as an opportunity to get a **** load of practice scribing

 

[jar944]

You would typically trim that with a skirt board

Scribing Stair Skirt Boards Revisited | THISisCarpentry

www.thisiscarpentry.com

 

[Kaizen]

Are there 2 walls or just that one? How did they attach the stairs and risers to treads?
The above you tube channel has a lot as well as a canadian trim carpenter. I like doing the skirt boards first and tenoning in the treads to it.

 

[mm08822]

Oooofffff!!!! Certainly would have been easier to add the skirt board first.

• Start with dense cardboard to make a custom template for each tread/rise pair.
• Get each one to tightly fit and assemble them with glue/staples onto to a common piece of luan/plywood to create an initial template to create a final router template.
• Hopefully the assembled template won't be locked into the tread/risers due to random fitment of the actual treads/risers.
• Transfer that composite template onto singular piece of luan/plywood for final router template.
• Cut out the template and check it. Go from there to the final lumber.

 

[The Cobbler]

I'd make a paint grade "false" stringer , carefully cut off the bullnose or practice with a holesaw or a router bit with the same radius to create a nice fit .
it will take some time but with patience you can get a decent fit ... and caulking does wonders

 

[CraigStu]

I see no way I could ever make a skirt board like that and have every step fit perfectly. So I'd be making the equivalent of that skirt board but in individual pieces. I would want the board to fit the stair tread perfectly since it is near impossible to caulk to a stain and poly board w/o smearing it. But I'd happily caulk where my individual triangles meet each other, the riser, and the wall.

 

[jar944]

I see no way I could ever make a skirt board like that and have every step fit perfectly. So I'd be making the equivalent of that skirt board but in individual pieces. I would want the board to fit the stair tread perfectly since it is near impossible to caulk to a stain and poly board w/o smearing it. But I'd happily caulk where my individual triangles meet each other, the riser, and the wall.

That would be a nightmare to flush out and make look seamless.

 

[Renegade1LI]

My question to the stair fabricator would be why didn't they leave room for the sheetrock? At this point I would remove the stairs & cut a 1/2" off each side to allow for the wall finish. Usually prebuilt stairs

 

[Renegade1LI]

Oops got cut off, usually prebuilt stairs will come with a skirt like shown in the vid. Once installed the wall finish would sit on it.

 

[Renegade1LI]

After thinking about it you probably can't cut them, the stringer is probably at the edge of the tread. Have you spoken to the stair fabricator? Try to get them to fix it, coping a skirt board will not be easy.

 

[jar944]

Oops got cut off, usually prebuilt stairs will come with a skirt like shown in the vid. Once installed the wall finish would sit on it.

Toh is showing a housed stringer, op has a cut stringer stair.

Scribing a skirt board to fit a site build cut stringer stair isnt that uncommon.

A couple ig reels showing the process

Benjamin_Joinery_LLC on Instagram: "Should the skirt board be placed before the treads or after? • • • @YaroslavINC boards. #stair #skirtboards #staircase #stairrunner #stairideas #woodworking #woodlife #carpentry #ideias #woods #custombuilders #cus

92K likes, 900 comments - benjaminjoineryllc on November 3, 2024: "Should the skirt board be placed before the treads or after? • • • @YaroslavINC boards. #stair #skirtboards #staircase #stairrunner #stairideas #woodworking #woodlife #carpentry #ideias #woods #custombuilders #customjob".

www.instagram.com

Benjamin_Joinery_LLC on Instagram: "Skirt board set up 👆🏻 #stair #skirtboards #staircase #stairrunner #stairideas #woodworking #woodlife #carpentry #ideias #woods #custombuilders #customjob"

893 likes, 23 comments - benjaminjoineryllc on October 8, 2022: "Skirt board set up 👆🏻 #stair #skirtboards #staircase #stairrunner #stairideas #woodworking #woodlife #carpentry #ideias #woods #custombuilders #customjob".

www.instagram.com

Lewis on Instagram: "Basement stair skirt scribe using a technique from an article on @thisiscarpentry #skirtboard #keepcraftalive #stairremodel"

13 likes, 1 comments - lewisbuildandremodel on January 9, 2022: "Basement stair skirt scribe using a technique from an article on @thisiscarpentry #skirtboard #keepcraftalive #stairremodel".

www.instagram.com

 

[Renegade1LI]

Not knowing the ops skill set it's hard to say if it's easy or not. The stair builder really should have allowed clearance or provided a skirt board.

 

[The Cobbler]

The stair builder really should have allowed clearance or provided a skirt board.

without knowing the back story, that's a tough call.

 

[mike93lx]

Not knowing the ops skill set it's hard to say if it's easy or not. The stair builder really should have allowed clearance or provided a skirt board.

Regardless of skills, that's not an easy job

 

[The Cobbler]

I would probably tack a board along the wall ( or maybe some 1/4" mdf to make a template) laying on the nose of the treads , and use a straight edge to mark the stair cuts . a pc of ply cut to size to mark out the riser and figure something out for the nosing . if done in paint grade any minor imperfections can be caulked.
the stair supplier may even have done in on CNC and might have the program still , they may be able to cut you something

 

[jar944]

the stair supplier may even have done in on CNC and might have the program still , they may be able to cut you something

Not knowing the ops skill set it's hard to say if it's easy or not. The stair builder really should have allowed clearance or provided a skirt board.

I'm going to say those are not "new" stairs but more likely replaced treads or what looks to be just a refacing job.

 

[rust in the eye]

Caulk it

 

[Hank11]

After thinking about it you probably can't cut them, the stringer is probably at the edge of the tread. Have you spoken to the stair fabricator? Try to get them to fix it, coping a skirt board will not be easy.

"Stair fabricator"?
Sir, there was no such named person involved on this job.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Based on what he wrote someone fabricated them .

"She got a deal on the place and had new stairs put in"

 

[Hank11]

Based on what he wrote someone fabricated them .

"She got a deal on the place and had new stairs put in"

You’re right, but they weren’t stair fabricators. More like hack carpenters.

 

[jar944]

Based on what he wrote someone fabricated them .

"She got a deal on the place and had new stairs put in"

I think that statement is very open to interpretation. I would be shocked if it was anything other than a re-tread.

 

[engineer2]

Getting new stairs carpet. I skirted my basement steps because I didn't want to fix the gaps and damaged drywall.
This was installed pre-carpet so I could be a bit sloppy.
Instead of a one-piece skirt, I cut individual triangles (1/8" thick white board) and glued (PL100) them in.
Needed a few brad nails to keep them flat, but the nails are under the kerf.
The joints are at the nose of the tread and are hidden by the carpet.
Capped it with a piece of trim that was kerfed to accept the triangle edges. It's about 3/4" above the stair nose.
Came out fine. My carpet guy liked it.

.

 

[carlaisle]

Has she paid for those new stairs yet?

I'd tell her to rip them out and start over. It's a great learning opportunity. Materials should be reusable, so it's just sweat equity if you/she have the will and ability. If not, find a new contractor and be specific about the scope of work.

 

[ddurrett896]

I'd pull the stair treads, use 1x against the wall and scribe.

Way easier to scribe a 90 degree angle than that bullnose.

 

[CraigStu]

Engineer2 that is very nicely done. That is how I would do it. Even w/o the carpet the perfection only needs to be at the triangle to stair tread. The OP's stairs have the riser painted so caulk can take care of imperfections triangle to riser. And your 1x4(?) covers part of the tread nose. I could make those triangles one at a time and get them perfect. There is no way I could make that one piece skirt board.

 

[thammel]

Yes, she has paid - this was well over a year ago. The hassle is, of course, that this is a 100 year old duplex house and about 30 miles from me. And hauling all the tools to her site...need both my miter saw and table saw. Fortunately I do have a mobile (well, sorta) table saw and a good miter saw. Engineer2 - this is basically where I'm heading. Lotsa triangles. Clearly, these were not finish carpenters. The house looked like 1973 when she got it. She had carpeting ripped out (maybe it was ****!!) and had wood floors sanded, stained and polyurethane put down. Had suspended ceiling removed and drywall hung. Had a bunch of electrical work done. But the place is really only half done. For example, the walls are paneled, yes, paneling. The new ceiling drywall to old wall paneling interface looks terrible. Needs crown molding. This dad has a lot of work to do there.

 

[johnre]

Assuming there's a stair jack on this side that's set in enough to shorten the width of the steps:

1. Remove all treads and risers.
2. Frame / space out a mount for a skirt.
3. Add the skirt.
4. Trim the treads and risers down so they are flush to this skirt.
5. Reinstall treads and risers.

Yes, I know this is a lot of work. But it will look right at the end of the day.

Marking out and scrolling a skirt like you see in post #3 is not going to get the same fit.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Pull the steps and install skirt boards.
Then reinstall the steps with risers.

 

[toolmiser]

New stairs carpet and I skirted my basement steps because I didn't want to fix the gaps and damaged drywall.
This was installed pre-carpet so I could be a bit sloppy.
Instead of a one-piece skirt, I cut individual triangles (1/8 white board) and glued them in.
The joints are at the nose of the tread are hidden by the carpet and caulk.
Capped it with a piece of trim that was kerfed to accept the triangles. Came out fine. My carpet guy liked it.

I think this solution looks doable.

 

[engineer2]

When doing mods keep in mind the minimum stair width per most building codes is 36".
Older buildings would likely be grandfathered in. A little bit under 36" is not likely to be noticed.

 

[pbon]

I like the retread/reriser theory. If you look at the bottom of the picture you see a strange “landing” that someone completely replacing the stairs would have improved. Old houses have had more work done than newer ones, probably usually adequate and sometimes not. But as a generality, I like old house more. They were usually built better. I think some of the new houses will be much more of a mess after 100-200+ years.

 

[Old tool guy]

You would typically trim that with a skirt board

Scribing Stair Skirt Boards Revisited | THISisCarpentry

www.thisiscarpentry.com

You can do that with a piece of veneer ply, and cap it with a small piece of trim to hide the plies.

 

[johnre]

If you do go with pulling treads and risers so you can install a skirt, I learned a trick from a wise older man who knew well how to create the perfect fit: All stairs will have some degree of taper to them, i.e. either the top or bottom will be slightly wider. If you start cutting the widths down at the wider end, you will get another chance with that tread or riser at the narrower end, should you mess up a cut.

There are also adjustable jigs made that can be used to set up each cut with this taper, and transfer it to your mitre saw. But I just use scrap plywood.