Greetings from the rainey side of Oregon.
I would like to hear your oppinions on what I should do. When I bought my house 10 years ago, the front steps had to be replaced because of dry rot. At that time, lumber cost about $600. Saturday, I was getting ready to paint my house for her 100th birthday, removed the handrails on the steps because of some dry rot and found that the risers were disintegrating. Took the expensive bullnosed (is this the right term for the rounded edge?) 12 inch treads off, hoping to reuse them but they also have little patches of rot on them.
So now I have the unexpected expense of replacing them. My carpenter suggested using trex. I see that for an arm and a leg I can get a 10 inch board. However, I can’t seem to find anything on the internet about doing stairs from this stuff. Are those wide treads able to bear the weight that stairs need to be able to take. I read that you have to put support every 16 inches. My steps are 9 foot long and it is the risers that are likely to rot.
I am concerned about the price but since retirement will happen in about 10 years I figure I can afford more now than I will then–so longevity becomes a big point. I also worry about mold in our climate. So given a 100 year old house, a cautious (yea, cheap) owner who wants things to last and look good, what material would you suggest for these stairs? ARe there other materials you would suggest? Much appreciate your thoughts. Ruth
Replies
Ruth,
Wood rots. This is an unfortunate fact of life. Any wood treads you put down today will probably need some type of repair or replacement in ten years unless you are extremely diligent about maintaning the protective finish you apply. After ten years of wear and tear and everyday use, an interior set of oak treads takes a beating. Now add to that sun and rain and snow and vast temperature changes and all of the other elements your exterior stairway comes in contact with and you begin to realize you are fighting a losing battle.
If you must use wood I would recomend mahogany. It holds up well to the elements and is a relatively "hard" wood which helps defend against the everyday wear and tear of foot traffic, snow shoveling, bumps and bangs.
However....is the idea of replacing the wood staircase with a one of stone out of the question. Not knowing the style of the house or the exact application to your entranceway, I may be poking in the dark. This is not an inexpensive alternative, but it will certainly(if done properly) solve your problem.
I myself have always apreciated and prefered the look of wood, but to reiterate....wood rots.
Good luck with your project,
Jay
i'd build them just like we always do for a formal entry... PT STRINGERS.. the "risers " are the front of each stair.. (some places they call the stringers " horses" )..
then i'd put a strip of ice & water on each stringer notcfh to support the treads..
i'd use good old traditional clear vertical grain fir.. but it would be primed and painted on all 6 sides .... any contact points would also be painted before assembly.. like your balusters... any UNPAINTED wood will absorb water.. and the close contact prevents it drying... the paint closes the cells and stops the water from penetrating...
just follow the culprit.. keeping water out of the wood... OR..
providing good flashing, and ventilation so it can dry after rain storms
Mike Smith
Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 4/11/2002 4:39:42 PM ET by Mike Smith
Both of you guys suggested going with the wood. Have you worked with Trex or have reasons for wood over Trex besides the price? I too love the look of wood but am also concerned about using wood where I am going to paint anyway and the wood will not show--simply from the viewpoint of limited forest reserves. My love of wood is dimmed when I look at the clear cuts that mar the mountains between Portland and the coast. That does not mean I have given up wood--but it does mean I like to explore other possibilities and have convincing reasons why I should use wood instead. Thanks. I will be waiting to hear from you--this decision needs to happen tomorrow. Ruth
ruth / manda.. you said " 100 year old house"..so that would be Clear vertical grain fir" which will last forever if it's treated right.. treating it right is just as i described..
I love Trex.. use it all the time.. for many things.. i've never seen it in a 1x10..
your stringers have to be at least 16" oc for trex... .. if you can REALLY get it in a full 1x10 ... then it is probably worth the price... if it will look like the traditional tread.. then fine.. otherwise.. why mess things up .. or ..
you could use something that doesn't look appropriate and put up a sign..."built by someone who didn't give a sh_t".. not the best birthday present for a 100 year old girlfriend...
also.. i think there may be a confusion in jargon...the expensive bullnosed 1x12 is the tread, if the rot is small , you may be able to repair the rot with epoxy... in any case, that (the tread) is the part i would use the CAHVG fir on....
the stringers are the notched supports that the tread is nailed to and you can't use trex for it.. you use 2x10 or 2x12 pressure treated framing lumber...hand picked .. so it won't have a bunch of knots or splits..
the ice & water is a roofing membrane that gets used for lots of things in modern construction.. it is a peel & stick..it seals around nails so water will not penetrate it
cut a strip , stick it on the horizontal notch that supports the tread... the purpose is to keep water out of the stringer, if there is no water in the stringer, then the joint wil dry faster and the expensive bullnosed 1x12 fir tread will not stay wet long enough to rot
Mike Smith
Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 4/11/2002 5:03:20 PM ET by Mike Smith
Edited 4/11/2002 5:14:24 PM ET by Mike Smith
Ruth,
As for the Trex ... I`m not certain. I have never seen treads made from Trex material. Should you find it and decide to paint it, be sure to get several professional opinions as to how this is done properly. Trex is a combination of sawdust, glue and recycled plastics. Plastics and glue don`t always take particular paints. Even if a paint covers well initially, I wouldn`t be surprised to find you back here in the "Breaktime" forum looking for ways to repaint Trex stair treads sometime in the future. Trex is a new material, not time tested enough to make me a believer yet. 10 to 12 yrs. from now, I`ll start to take a good look to see how its held up to its hype.
Again...best of luck,
Jay
Thanks for that input! My contractor wants to use either trex or nexwood on my deck/stairs. Moot for a while until I can afford to hire/pay off the foundation repair experts aargh. I think he's new to it, too. Makes sense that it is too new to rate against, say, well-treated wood over time.
I live in Victoria, B.C. , so live in similar conditions. I have built long lasting stairs from #1 construction grade fir, hand picked. All cuts need to have a good soak with wood preservative, the clear stuff (zinc based?) seems easiest to paint over. All cuts means all end grain, all ends of treads, etc. Open riser stairs last longer because they can breathe. If you must use risers use wood preservative on the tops and bottoms. Heck, just paint the whole thing with preservative.
No, really, the stuff works, and stinks (wear a respirator). It is hard to recommend PT wood because the grade we get is very poor, ie not presentable for nice stairs.
The key is to build it so water doesn't stay/ get trapped, like where the riser meets the tread.
there is no such thing as dry rot. The reason it rots is that it goes through a wet-dry cycle. Look at fence posts , the wood in the ground stays wet and doesn't rot, above ground sheds water and is dry, doesn't rot, it is the zone right at the ground that gets saturated wet and then gets some oxygen that feeds the fugus or whatever rots it. Same with stairs./
Sit the stringers on a cedar shingle or piece of ashphalt shingle, as well as soaking it in the bad stuff (wood preservative).
Don't know about plastic.