Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has any advice for me. I live in a 30 year old house and have a problem with the stairs going down to my basement. One side of the stairs is against the outside wall and the other side is open. The stringer on the open side has developed a bow and is pulling the treads out of the opposite side on about 2 or 3 treads. My idea is to put a threaded rod from one side to the other and try to bring the bow back to a straight line. I can get under the stairs to do this no problem, but I don’t want to have to replace the stringer if I don’t have to, because everything else is finished in the basement and that would create an enormous amount of work. Is my idea feasible or have I gone off the deep end?
Thanks
Replies
That sounds like a good solution to me. I would locate the all-thread rod below the stringer cuts so not to snap the step off. Maybe counter sink the outer nut and washer so it can be ground finish flush with the surface. Pre block it near the rod to keep the stringer square or from twisting and pull the stringer to the block and nail to prevent any possible squeaks.
Thanks, just needed confirmation that I was thinking in the right direction. Have a great day!
You could also try some cable and a turnbuckle... or a couple pieces of 1/2" pipe and a left/right threaded nipple. From your post I can't tell if you can anchor to the outside (wall side) of the stringer against the wall.
The outside stringer is standalone, but is butted up against the wall. I like your idea of cable and turnbuckle too. Would you use a screw in eyebolt or one that would go thru the stringer with washers and nuts on the other side?
Thanks
I agree, for what it's worth, with Mrjalepeno--I had a similar problem on a job I worked on and was going to do the threaded rod thing, but ended up screwing some steel angles under the treads in pairs at three locations after I whacked the stringers back onto the treads with a sledge hammer. (Assisted by a steel wedge between the outside stringer and a lally column.) The builder had, as it appears they did on yours, nailed through the stringer into the end of each tread, so there was basically nothing to keep the stringers from spreading. Once I got the stringers pulled back in, I glued and nailed with spiral shanked nails a cleat under each step and then nailed to the cleat through the top of each tread. Between that and the angles, I think it will hold, but the threaded rod is a more elegant (and less labor intensive) solution.
Good idea. I pulled stringers together that way earlier this winter. They'd worked themselves apart at the bottom, letting 3 steps fall out of their mortises. I decided to operate from below, from an opening in the finished ceiling in the flight leading to the basement.
This being in a 90y.o. house, I was concerned the stringers might split from being drilled and drawn together from a single point. The work around was to glue some 2x material flat onto both stringers, at four points, with a few screws providing clamping pressure. The next day, I piloted holes in the 2x for some lag-threaded hooks, four in all (two per stringer). Made sure the lags did not penetrate the dry old fir stringers. A couple turnbuckles and two lengths of chain provided the stringer-to-stringer connection. Drew them together slowly and evenly. Left the hardware buried in the ceiling.
Edit: The advantage of using chain vs. allthread rod is that length is instantly adjustable. If your stringers must be drawn together any distance, the allthread will soon jam-up inside the turnbuckle, forcing you to stabilize the stringers in place while you cut the allthread to size. Chain links to the lag hooks while allthread needs another fitting. Allthread only fits in one end of the turnbuckle, because thread pitch is reversed.
Truth is that I drew the stringers together with a couple 500#-rated ratcheting load straps, fastened to the lag hooks. Once stringers were together, I substituted the turnbuckles and chains.
Edited 3/6/2005 12:23 pm ET by Pierre1