i need some technique suggestions. i’m runnuing baseboards on a stairway.the treads are cantilevered about 3/4” over the risers. is there a cheater way to make the trim look good or do i need to actually notch around every tread and back to the risers. thanks
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Baseboards on stairway?
Thats a new one to me.
Are you attempting to build out the stringers?
If I`m picturin` this correctly, you`ll need to notch for each tread....however, a steady hand and an inline sabre saw might work in notching the nosing to allow for the thickness of your stock.
J. D. Reynolds
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If his stairs were built by the moron that built mine they seem to have forgotten about skirtboards. My house has beaded wainscotting tucked behind the treads&risers. I have tried to think of ways to go back in and add a skirt board. It just looks cheap without it. Is there a way to saw or rout a straight cut to get a skirtboard in? I agree, he will be disappointed in baseboards.
That's how they did it in the old days...& it still looks good today...
They're called skirtboards. (Usually installed before the treads & risers are in.) I did this once by cutting the overhang(what you call the cantilever) off at the thickness of the trim you're using,ie, if your skirtboards are 3/4" thick cut the front of the tread 3/4" in from the wall/sheetrock whatever you've got. You do this to save yourself a lot of time with the jigsaw. ( Cut only the overhang,ie, flush with the riser below the tread!)
Next take a stack of 1/2" thick by about 12" long strips and use them to make a pattern of the treads and risers - set a strip tight against the first riser, set a strip on top of the first tread, nail together, set a strip against the second riser, nail to 1st tread strip, and so on up the stairs. I used a brad nailer w 3/4" brads to nail the strips together. When you are done you will have a reverse pattern of your stairs. now set the pattern on your skirtboard materiel, trace it, and cut and install.
I think i used a 1x4 to reinforce the pattern as I was doing it. Nail the strips to the 1x4 as well.
one last thing - half of the strips will be 1/2" away from the skirtboard stock when you trace it. If you've been able to follow me so far you won't have any problem figuring out how to work around that. have fun.
Ask Workshop Jon from here..he just did a great job on his. Use a template..take your time, and be anal.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Watch out for the edges, it's really fast out there...
There is a template tool available that is used to transfer the profile of risers and treads to a stair skirtboard. It would be worth having for this job, unless you are clever enough to make your own.
And yes, you will have to make the cuts for your stair tread nosings. Most finish hardwood treads are 1" thick with a full radius bullnose, so the "cut" will be made by a careful drill-out with a 1" diameter forstner bit that has a center spike or auger.
There are little drum sander bits you can get that will mount into the chuck of a drill. Some of these in 3/4" diameter will come in handy to (carefully) enlarge any of the nosing cuts that need it.
<below stuff added with edit after initial post . . . I went shopping>
Here ya go. Wheaton Tools makes it, or used to. The Amazon site says "discontinued." But I would try hard to find one, or bite the bullet and make my own. The pic pretty much shows what you need to do.
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Edited 1/13/2005 9:00 am ET by Gene Davis