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Does anyone have an idea…tried, true or otherwise on an attractive way to finish the exposed underside of a winder stair. I’ve tried a couple things in the past. One was to drywall the backside of the treads and risers, texture and finish as usual. This seems to be the least attractive, but the easiest. The other was to use thin strips of wood to “fair-out” the curve, then apply metal lath and then plaster. This is quite time consuming, and coupled with the fact that the only plasterer in my town died 10 years ago, this technique would be in the hands of the uninitiated. Any hints?
Tom Laing
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Tom,
Joseph Fusco
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*Mr. Laing,One way we found many years ago worked very well. We used 2x2 metal studs (the commercial kind) to span across the bottom of the stringers. We cut tabs on the end of each one to attach to the bottom inside of the stringer holding back for a thickness of 1/2" sheetrock and about 1/4" to 3/8" reveal to the bottm of the stringer. The metal stud "twisted" from one end to the other. A wood stud layed flat would not twist. From there we sheet rocked it and the painter did the TB&T.This was done in 1980. About a year ago, another builder we work for raised the house (8,000 sq. ft.) to build another house that we just recently finished. (In the Dallas area known as Highland Park this is the norm) I was lucky enough to inspect the existing house before it was torn down. The underside of the staircase still held true. Oh well.......so much for progress.I hope I was able to express to you how it was done.If you have any questions,Please post me back here.Good luck,Ed. Williams
*Tom - I did what you describe about 9 months ago in an old (1780) farmhouse. I ripped down 2x material to about 1/8" thick, and then bent and screwed it to the curve of the underside of the stairs... followed by wire lath, which began to get the shape a little closer to what I wanted. Then I put on one coat of Structolite (brown coat plaster), and then followed it up with about three coats of Durabond 90, and then about two coats of regular joint compound. Really the only major hassle was not having the right tool to smooth out the curves... I settled for pretty close, and then sanded it down to take out the rough spots. It was time consuming, but I was very happy with the end result (so was the customer). This is the way that these stairs were finished back in the day... I have seen many staircases in old houses here in Philadelphia with this original detail. If it fits in with your style, and you have a little time, I say go for it.To clarify a little further, I ran one set of rippings in the same direction as the main set of steps, and then followed this up with another set of rippings at approximately perpindicular. The form really started to show with the second set of rippings. Don't worry if it isn't pretty, it's fairly easy to "fair" it with the wire and then the plaster.If I can find them, I have some pictures I will post.
*Yes, metal lath to the back and 3 coat plaster.You need a pool finishers trowel for the curves, I made one by bridging a 12" trowel between (2) 2x blocks and stepping on it to bend it convex, then ground off the corners.Watch out , though, its like Tom Sawyers fence, once you start messing with that plaster, everyone is gonna want to have a try.
*Mike - You know, it's funny, about a week after I finished the plastering, a crew came in to do the customers pool... I saw their tools, and I was like, damn, that's exactly what I needed a week ago...
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Does anyone have an idea...tried, true or otherwise on an attractive way to finish the exposed underside of a winder stair. I've tried a couple things in the past. One was to drywall the backside of the treads and risers, texture and finish as usual. This seems to be the least attractive, but the easiest. The other was to use thin strips of wood to "fair-out" the curve, then apply metal lath and then plaster. This is quite time consuming, and coupled with the fact that the only plasterer in my town died 10 years ago, this technique would be in the hands of the uninitiated. Any hints?
Tom Laing