Hi,

We're doing solid red oak treads and risers throughout the house (4 sets of stairs). Each stairway has a landing at the top where I need to add a piece of nosing.

I've milled up nosing which is 3/4 x 3 and then 1 x 1.5 for the overhang. The question i have is how should i fasten it? Should i run a bead of construction adhesive under the nosing piece? I've done one of these already where I just sank some 3" finish nails near the T&G joint but i'm noticing a gap starting to form between the nose and the existing floor. I think the best thing to do would be to run some wood glue on the joint also, but I sort of hate making something THAT permanent (you know?)

Any advise is appreciated.

Does the nosing and flooring have a tongue and groove between them? How long is the actual overhang?
Construction adhesive to fasten the nosing to the subfloor and finish nails should do it. You could also use trim head screws instead of the nails. The nosing is a high stress point and if it just attached with finish nails and no construction adhesive it wouldn't take much to move it.

Yes the nosing will tie into the existing floor via T&G. When I laid the floors on the landing I stopped about 3" shy of the edge of the steps for the nosing piece. The overhand will be about 1"

Construction adhesive and nails/screws.

I'm about to install some stair noses to complete my 3/4" wood flooring install.

I'm going to use some Bostik wood flooring adhesive and three 2" 15ga finishing nails, via an air nail gun. Then just putty the small holes the nails will create. I've done my top stair nose and its rock solid.

My father and law and I have argued at length about hand nailing vs shooting finish nails for the nosing. He is a firm believer that you have to drill, hand nail and set 3"+ finish nails. For some reason he thinks this will give tons more pull out than shooting a finish nail. I think for this time I am going to try and my way!

Going to go with some construction adhesive and a 2.5" finisher.

The construction adhesive will provide the majority of the hold. A longer nail will only be effective if you nail through the flooring, subflooring and into a floor joist. Trim head screws would be even better than the nails.

If using trim screws, make sure that there is a section of the screw that does not have threads near the head. The smooth shaft will allow a tight pull down and should be smooth for at least the thickness of the flooring that you are fastening. down

Great advice on the trim head screws, going to give them a try on the next install.

Thanks

I have used them, they work great just a bigger hole to fill

Pre-drill the screw pilot holes into the soft grain and they will blend in better, they leave pretty large holes to fill. However, if you are using construction adhesive, this will hold plenty well. The smaller gauge pneumatic brads only need to hold the nosing until the glue sets up.
In the past, before construction adhesive, the only fasteners were 8d casing nails or finish nails, sometimes toe-nailed through the nosing into the sub-floor and framing. The casing nails would be blunt tipped so pre-drilling would not be necessary. The blunt tip punches through the fibers instead of having a sharp tip which would split the grain as it wedges through
Projection of the nosing was usually an inch and a quarter to inch and a half, so a small piece of scotia molding, like coving could be installed under the nosing nailed into the top of the riser and not be seen looking down at the tread.

I know this is an old post, but I came across it will doing some research on the best way to install my stair nose. I installed 3/4 asian walnut on the second floor and the stairs open up to this room. I had a 1" oak tread that was installed at the top of the landing, but I didn't want to install a reducer to marry it up with my hardwood. I removed the tread and installed hardwood all the way to the stairs. I am trying to install a stair nose and the piece I received was a tongue and grove piece that matches my hardwood.

My hardwood pieces are 3 5/8", but the stair nose is only 3" wide. I am worried that when I install it, that it won't be strong enough to take the weight/pressure from frequent use. I get adding the construction adhesive to the subfloor, but was curious as to which nailing method was best. I have a pneumatic air gun, but the choices I have for nails are 2" 18 gauge brad nails or 2 1/2" 15 gauge finishing nails. I would prefer to use what I already have on hand. I only have one stair nose piece and I don't want it splitting if I use the nailer. I was going to buy some finishing nails and predrill, just to make sure it doesn't break. Suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

If you use air actuated finish nail gun and 2 inch fasteners, the fasteners will hold the wood until the glue grabs. Just make sure that the board is well seated in the adhesive because the finish nails will hold the board where you have it, but not pull it own to insure better contact will the glue since the finish nails from an air actuated nail gun shoots through the piece so fast it doesn't help drive the board "home" like a hammer driven nail set beneath the surface with a nail set. The gauge of the finish nail doesn't really matter if the board is pushed into place while the nail gun drives the nail. Just don't stress the fastener by stepping on the nosing before the glue sets up.

What if your using underlayment, then you can't glue it... correct?

Cut the vapor barrier back so none is under the under the nosing for glue contact with the sub-floor and nosing. If you use thick tarpaper for underlayment, then remove all but a narrow strip where you are going to use a top-nail to hold it down while the glue dries.