If you just want to trim a piece out to cover the hole, I recommend using a pine board that 1x8 of proper length. I did not think gluing the ends of the treads or risers to the skirt sounded correct. This line gets cut with a circular saw. Follow the same steps with this one. From below it appears that the skirt board has pulled away from the treads over time. What you're doing isn't the ideal way, but it's doable. I only brought up the "tread end gaps" because my wife was abit overboard about it. Post subject: Re: gaps between solid treads & skirt boards. If there is any more gaps you can fill with wood putty. It doesn't appear there's a skirtboard in your photo. It would seem to me that if every step is that way, then they were either poorly done to begin with, or the outside trim was replaced at one time, and the cuts were off. While a skilled carpenter can install a skirt board after stairs have been installed with relative ease, it is far easier to install the skirt board first, and then the stairs. gap between tread and skirt board. How to Install Wood Paneling on the Sides of Stairs, Help for Aligning Cabinets on Uneven Walls. vegan) just to try it, does this inconvenience the caterers and staff? This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. It'll blend into the joint and be invisible and will just look like the shadow gap that was there before. I was under the impression these where A set of boxed stairs. I'm doing the treads out of white oak and most likely will do either oak or hard maple for the skirt board. I do not recommend this option if you expect a lot of walking on your stairs as there's every chance that your drywall gets knocked in by accident. But in general skirt boards go first before treads and rises. If the gap is too wide, use a strip or piece of the same flooring material; or use a thicker skirting board. You'll need to measure and mark the height of each riser and tread onto the skirt board and cut the triangles out accurately. A skirt board on your stairs is a long, unbroken piece of trim just for your stairs. I installed 1" red oak staircase. MDF and softwood are used if the skirting board is to be painted. If there is, remove them all using the prybar. This allows you to avoid cutting around existing stairs while giving the appearance of a skirt, but without an actual skirtboard. Painted particle board isn't going to look tremendously luxurious anyway, so those small gaps aren't likely to destroy your aesthetic. In this article, well take a look at the variety of ways you can use a stair skirt on your stairs. I use to use a framing square and a 2 foot level to lay out directly on the skirt. Can you attach some photos showing the area in concern? If you use stainable filler, tape the edges of any adjacent wood you want to stain, because any smudges of filler that get onto the wood will show, even after sanding, and it takes the stain differently than the surrounding wood. Whats the cost of the tread, Around 20 dollars ? All of your stairs wont be the exact same measurements, walls are not perfectly flat One of the things that I source out now for sure. This way the treads and risers hide any gaps. Your wife has good reason to be bothered by that gap. It is dead. With all that matching wood, color matching wood filler or putty, if she gives you grief. Crypto If opting for softwood lumber as your stair skirting, it will likely be pine or another softwood species that is commonly found in the framing lumber that is local to your area. Personally,I go the old school way when building stairs with one or both sides closed. I agree with FreeMan about them being less durable. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. 2) Do I use glue on the ends and glue them to the skirt? Walkout Basement Explained: Pros and Cons. 2-7 Measuring and cutting the wall skirt. How do I connect these two faces together? I'm sorry to say its your call. If the gaps are not too severe, consider using colored caulk to cover them. What Is the Difference Between 'Man' And 'Son of Man' in Num 23:19? Otherwise, youll have to fit the skirt board around the stairs, which is harder. The cabinetry can also be shimmed up from the floor to close the gap between counter top and backsplash, however, the toe kick of base cabinets might need to be remounted flush with the floor afterwards. He wasn't a big fan of caulking as a solution nor was he about to start ripping out treads for 1/16" gaps. While hardwood skirt boards can last decades without much maintenance, the upfront investment can be a tall order for many. Curtail: what is a curtail? Mistakes when using hardwood for skirting can be quite costly thus you should take the help of a professional in this case unless you're one. Builders Advocate: An Interview With Viewrail, Podcast 543: Affordable Flooring, Replacing Replacement Windows, and Low-Flow Fans, Podcast 537: Members-only AftershowConversation With Builder Sam Friesen, Balancing Density and Privacy in Los Angeles, Plus, get an extra 20% off with code GIFT20, Fine Homebuilding Issue #313 Online Highlights, The Fine Homebuilding Interview: James Metoyer, 10 Steps to Install Crown Molding on Cabinets, Choosing the Right Construction Tape for the Job, Expert insights on techniques and principles. My plan of attack was to shim between the treads and stringers to ensure that they were well-supported. Ceramic tile caulking, matches color and texture of tile grout but it is flexible. One final question regarding replacing carpeted stairs with new oak treads. Square cut the lines on the skirt. Instead, place the quarter round under the tread lip down the riser and on the tread. Reforging Glory. "I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. Skirt boards are one of those things How to Install Stair Skirt Boards: Tricks, Finding Angles, Cutting, Transitions Insider Carpentry - Spencer Lewis 199K subscribers Join Subscribe 8.7K. Also, be aware that paint can be very slippery, especially glossy paints. Skirt boards of the first kind are the most common. Notice that gap between the skirt and the stringer? This gap is usually either 3/4" or 1/2" in width. I would never leave a gap either on the tread or the riser where it meets the skirtboard. The skirt boards were notched around the stairs at some point leaving 1/4"-1/2" gaps. I would try my damndest to keep it from happening. Gap is both between riser and skirt and stair tread and skirt. and what should be expected as "normal". I also wouldn't apply trim to either joint. But this is your project and your home you will have to be the judge, we don't know what your talents as far as painting and staining are. Finally, a stair skirt board shouldnt be confused with a stair apron they are not the same. The most common reason why skirt boards are installed is simply aesthetics. Some may disapprove of the busy look it creates, although if you have plain baseboard trim, it may not stand out as much as a decorative trim. For that reason I would paint them as they are. There's also no way to repair PVC skirtboards if they break. Using a two-foot level, scribe a line plumb with each riser. I will be using PL400 on the stringers and Tightbond glue on the back open grans of the tread where it will meet the riser, if I am to glue the tread and riser ends to the skirt, Im assuming I would use the Tightbond glue as its open grain. Skirt boards give a finished neat appearance to stairs. and what should be expected as "normal". Laminate & Tile Floors. If you have nosings on the stairs it gets a bit more complicated as you'll need to trace out the shape of the nosing as well to perfectly accommodate the skirt board. You can also pocket screw the back top of the riser below to the tread above (if you have just a bit of room to work or a right angle drill. How can I place treads on these stairs around a corner? 2-7 here. Originally I thought about trying to pull the skirt board back to be tight with the treads and risers but I am thinking that might be hard/impossible without major work. So, you might be able to hide some of that with white caulking, and the skirt board paint. Skirt boards look best when they are in one single piece, unspliced. If you preorder a special airline meal (e.g. Next, use a level to mark a plumb line on the skirt board at the top and bottom that matches the height of the flat portion of your baseboard. While they don't offer any protection to your wall, they come in a variety of designs. Why? To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. I'm Susan. The easy . Was looking at molding options but didn't know how to fit around curved edge of the tread, as well saw on several DIY sites that molding is a sign of poor carpentry. MDF is easy to cut and is widely available at most big box home reno stores. Can I meet this goal by installing the skirt board over the installed stair treads? Remember, you will be able to push the skirt out if either the riser or tread is just a bit too long. Mutually exclusive execution using std::atomic? Place it on a sawhorse. Fine Homebuilding has some good articles on this; it's typically known as "housed stairs". Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Use caulk Method 2: Use expanding foam Method 3. I install risers first, then skirts precut to fit tight to face of risers, then treads.This way you can fit your treads tight without the risk of opening a gap at the riser. Of course it could have been better too. Cut the bottom line using a circular saw. Should a skirt board on a stair case be installed over the treads? There should not be any gap at all, especially when when you have oak meeting oak. Rather, you simply measure, cut each end, and nail to the finished wall. The last two cuts depend on the height of your baseboard trim. Run a heavy bead of the silicone along the gap to fill it, and then use a wet fingertip to smooth it out if necessary. Hardwood is usually used to match the stair treads. I will try to leave a slight gap between the ends and the skirt and will not use any glue. A key aspect to consider when buying skirt board material is the length of the board. For the inside skirt board he cut it and installed before installing risers and treads. For the tread length, my concern was if the treads fit to tightly against the skirts, there could be movement when stepped on causing squeeks. It has a far less busy look than using trim to frame around each step and is easy to work with. WeekendBuilds.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Then I can use a gap-filling compound to fill in the gap between the treads/risers and the skirt board. The savings was really more like 3-5 thousand on the whole job. An apron is the trim piece beneath a balustrade and is horizontal to the flooring. I will be putting some decorative rail on all my skirting boards, and it will be stepped back a few millimetres. Stair skirt board material should be " to " MDF, hardwood, or softwood. The steps are split-entry style and skirtboards butt up to . Baseboard trim around each step is another common alternative to a stair skirt. Gaps like this are routine in older homes and can also occur on newer installations where treads and risers have little or no tolerance for error. I can confidently You don't want increase the chances of someone slipping on the stairs, tumbling down, and landing on that tile at the bottom. The wood is solid oak. You can use similar colored caulk at any seams to hide any other gaps. Also good luck notching out the skirt to match all of the overhangs on the tread if you decided to do it last. If you need an extra-long piece, then youll have to contact a lumberyard. Those gaps are there by design. Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:19 pm . How can I explain to my manager that a project he wishes to undertake cannot be performed by the team? Valued Contributor: Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:02 pm Posts: 622 Location: Florida woodstock wrote: . Question, how much gap width is too much? The current skirt board was installed before the treads, so the treads butt up against the skirt board. This is more difficult for several reasons. If you don't want to do that, leave a tiny gap (1/32" is enough) and supercarefully apply and wipe a bead of clear sealant to the joints, so it doesn't show as open. Some people simply prefer not having a skirt board to avoid giving a formal look to the house. Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. The negatives of MDF for skirt board are that it can sometimes emit gases like formaldehyde polluting the air indoors. 01-05-2006, 11:07 PM. The size of the gap you leave between decking boards can vary depending on the species of wood you choose, the moisture level, and the humidity and temperature in the climate you are installing in. One long, unbroken board is much more visually appealing. Along the same lines make sure you presand the treads and risers - you'll have scuffs and marks to sand off, but you don't want to have to sand everything in place. The point I was trying to make is that most of the time I do stairs, the skirt boards are already there. It has finished edges, making it better suited for stair skirting than plywood since it is already white and doesnt need a piece of trim on top of it to hide the unfinished thickness of the skirt. A stair skirtboard is an elegant and practical feature found in most modern homes. The stringers are the diagonal pieces of wood that the treads and risers butt into on the sides. The current skirt board was installed before the treads, so the treads butt up against the skirt board. Conclusion Ways to Fix a Gap Between Stair Tread and Wall Method 1. If you have nice, finished hardwood treads, for example, you may be able to get away with no trim if there isnt a discernible gap between the stairs and the wall. The short answer is it depends. Partner is not responding when their writing is needed in European project application, Minimising the environmental effects of my dyson brain, Styling contours by colour and by line thickness in QGIS, Euler: A baby on his lap, a cat on his back thats how he wrote his immortal works (origin?). When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. You can also run your baseboard trim over the skirt, which will create a nice, finished look if both the trim and skirt are the same thickness. You can retrofit the entire staircase using stair kit You can make and slip a new wall stringer and trim it out, etc. A stair skirt is a finish piece of carpentry. You might have a good fit on one, only to ruin it or the one below if you're too tight. Use a heavy floor paint or polyurethane to protect them. To fill the gap between the stair tread and riser, a transition strip should be used. He showed up at 6:30 pm and the original plan was to put on the first coat of finish that night but they hadn't gotten 4 steps completed on the main entry steps and they still had the smaller sized steps to go.