Gus B. of Edmonton pulled the carpet off the curved staircase in his home and replaced it with solid red oak treads and oak plywood risers. Because the stairs curve, no two treads near the bottom were the same — he ended up making four separate paper patterns to get them to fit.
The job took about a month of on-and-off work and ran roughly $800 to $1,000 in wood, glue and Bona polyurethane. Treads are 3/4-inch red oak with glued-on bullnoses, risers are 1/4-inch oak plywood, and everything was stained and finished in the shop before being set in place with Mapei Ultrabond.
In Gus’s words
I removed all the carpet on my curved staircase. I installed solid 3/4 inch oak to treads and used 1/4 inch oak plywood for the risers. I had to cut off the bullnose on the stairs and fill the inner stringers with oak plugs where the bullnose had been.
I needed to make 4 different patterns for the treads as the ones near the bottom were all different. I cut and fitted all treads before applying stain and Bona Polyurethane. I installed the risers followed by the tread starting from the top. Mapei Ultrabond was used to attach the risers and the treads.
The build
- Project type: Built-ins & home improvement — staircase remodel
- Skill level: Advanced
- Wood: 3/4" red oak and 1/4" oak plywood
- Finish: Stain and Bona polyurethane
- Tools: Table saw, Festool Domino, router, paper patterns
- Time: About a month, off and on
- Cost: Roughly $800–$1,000 including wood, glue and Bona polyurethane
- Plans: None — all his own work converting the existing stairs to oak
Biggest challenge
Hardest part was putting plugs in inner stringers and definitely making the different patterns for the stairs.
Photos
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