How to repair a staircase/stair

[Larryh86GT]

I know it's not a wine question but I also know some folks here know a lot about building staircases:

I've been elected to fix my son's broken step. On the left side of the middle step it appears to have pulled out from the open stringer but does not look actually broken. Just the nails have pulled out of the stringer. I'm thinking maybe sawzall the nails that are sticking out of the step flush with the step, apply a liberal amount of construction adhesive, and then renail using the same holes in the stringer. There are no risers. Any suggestions before I screw this up? Other than telling my son to call someone that really knows what they are doing.
Thanks,
Larry

 

[St Allie]

where is SuperWade when you need him!

 

[ffemt128]

Sounds like a job fore Wade, although I do believe you are on the right track.

Remove existing nails
Clean out cleat rabbit
Glue
Clamp across entire tread (front and back)
Re-nail/screw to secure.

I would also recommend you check the other side of same step. If one side is loose the other likely is too. You may also want to check the others above and below for same reason. When you clamp you may fine nails securing those will pop also.

Just my 2 cents from doing remodeling.

HEY WADE, WHERE ARE YOU?

 

[winemaker_3352]

It doesn't look like removing the skirtboard is an option - i don't see a stringer or a carriage closed riser between the treads - i think your only option is to remove the existing nails and add some adhesive for added support and re-nail them.

But like everybody else has mentioned - let the pro answer this - this is one of Wade's many specialties.

 

[Green Mountains]

See, I'd just take a big step and go over the bad one.

Then again, the homeowners policy might not pay off when somebody breaks there neck.

WAAADDDDDDDE!

 

[Woodbee]

I would be concerned that if this tread has come out of it's mortise, that the others are not far from coming out as well. I would be real careful using a sawzall as it would be real easy to mark up the finish. I would be inclined to grab the nails with a medium size pair of vise-grips and using a hammer try to pull them through the way they were driven by hitting the vise-grips with the hammer. Or just clip them off with a pair of bull-nosed pliers. I would also not use a tube type adhesive. I would go with a Urethane base like gorilla glue. Mask off the wood and carpet well because it swells out of its joint if you use too much. Then clamp it up both top and bottom above and below this particular tread. Then take a big hardwood block and a mallet to try to reset the other treads. Instead of nail I would use finish screws to fasten through the stringer into the end of the treads. Finish screws only have a head that is a little more than an eighth of an inch across. They have a square drive head and are easy to fill with some colored wood putty. Good luck.
Brad

 

[Wade E]

I was at work building 2 all cherry spirals!!!!! What I would do is use a pair of dikes and et in there and pull those nails out and then get a countersink drill bit and drill bigger holes where those nails were and use screws there and then plug the holes with oak plugs and then stain and shellac those two oak plugs. Find a stain that will come close to hatching it. Putting nails back in there will most likely fall right back out and since that tread is falling out that means the rest are right on the edge also which is a big hazard. Look for a 1/2" countersink bit with some #3 x 2 or 2 1/2" screws, use a little soap on the threads of the screw or rub the threads of the screw on a candle to make the screw go in easier and not snap. By the way thats called a box stringer and the stair is called an open rise Alpine stair. I built a lot of then back in the 80's.

 

[sly22guy]

what wade said except i would use some construction adhesive and you can take a reg. ratchet strap and wrap around it ( works as a big clamp and puts preasure on both top & bottom. but def use screws and countersink like mentioned above!

 

[Larryh86GT]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I appreciate it. And yes Wade, the house was built in 1984.

Larry

 

[Wade E]

The other ideas are good also. If using the gorilla glue be very careful as that stuff foams up like crazy. I dont like it very much as it really doesnt have any tensile strength to speak of, I prefer PL5000 myself. Looking at the picture there is no way to get a strap around it as the right box stringer appears to be against a wall. The wooden block and mallet is the way to go but get the screw in there first just till it starts to pull and then smack it some working the screw in slowly and also working the treads below and above or you could crack the stringer. Use nice easy smacks and dont drive it all in one shot. Work it nice and slow. If you can get a file on the edges to slightly round them over so the tread goes back in without taking the routed edge with it.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I'd scrap the whole thing and put in an elevator and fireman's pole. The grandkids (or future grandkids) will think grandpa is the coolest!

 

[Larryh86GT]

Ok Lon - you're not helping.

 

[arcticsid]

I just knew I wanted to help.

I have actually been involved in your situation. Go with Wads advice, he IS the man on here when it comes to this. I do agree with the ratchet strap. And I like Gorilla glue, it does foam, be careful. The other thing with G glue is that you NEED to moisten one of the surfaces to be joined.

IMO, the sheet is outrageous. The manftr claimed it could glue two cement blocks togehter, regular block.

So I tried it, moistend one side down ,applied the glue to the other, and just to prove no way could this work I bet my buddy who showed me his 20 dollars. I put my 20 in a ziplock bag and we glued it into the joint.

No Baloney, it held. I will see if I can find the picture. Those blocks are held together tighter than any mortar out there.

Sheet, it was my last twenty too!!!

So in conclusion. "gorilla Glue" believer here.


But if you use Gorilla Glue, be sure to acount for that expansion, it does "foam"

 

[arcticsid]

kinda sort

Kinda orta like this... sry. I cant design after I have been drinking.

 

[Larryh86GT]

Thanks Troy. I have worked with gorilla glue before and have seen that foam up. I think I am going to stick with construction glue because when I get this step back in place the rug that's wrapped around the step is right up against the stringer and I don't want to glue the rug in place. I won't be able to rachet strap it in place because the other stringer is up against the wall but I have a type of racheting load bar gadget that I can use from an opposite wall to press the stringer to the step until the glue has set. I am starting to lean towards using pocket screws which have the unthreaded shank and square drive heads:
http://www.mcfeelys.com/tech/pocket-hole.htm

I believe I can use the longest pocket screws screwing from the stringer into the step and sometime in the future (like next year after I retire and have time for it) I will use the pocket screws from underneath the other steps into the stringer to tie it together stronger.