Our home has 20+ yr old carpeted stairs. Rather than replace the carpeting with more, we chose to replace it with hardwood. We chose pre-finished Brazilian teak for both the treads and the risers. We hired a contractor to do the installation but the results are not what we expected. First there was a problem with nailing the treads. Teak is very hard and they are 1.25" thick. They changed the approach to screws which seems to be ok. The stairs are open on one side. However, the treads are shimmed from the existing skirting on the open side leaving a gap between the treads and the skirting. The top of the risers do not meet the tread or the skirting leaving a gap on the top and open side of the stairs. The old skirting has a raw edge that is exposed and very unattractive.

When I asked the contractor about these defects he indicated that standard installation uses coving to cover the gaps and finish the skirt edge. It does appear that this is sometimes done when using a painted riser. However I have not seen this in any pictures using solid hardwood for both the tread and the riser. In addition I concerned about being able to match the trim to the hardwood treads and risers. Is this my only option?

Oh Boy . First off, I dont understand why the treds were not run past the skirting, at the open edge, with a bullnosed end. Leaving that raw edge of the skirting is not right. We're the treds ordered short ? And he proceeded anyway?
Now and then treds have to be shimmed. But with the tred running about an inch or so past the skirting. Then a trim can be used at the top side of the skirting where it meets the bottom side of the tred. IMO this is the only location that looks right for trim , picturing what your describing. I have seen installers use the cove mouldings at different locations, and to be honest, it makes me cringe.
IMO gaps are unacceptable on a staircase.The risers not meeting the treds !!?? I'm trying to hold myself back on this
I would say the installer was and is ,in over his head.

Pictures would be very helpful in trying to assess and fix.

I have to agree with Ken regarding detailed photos for this one. However, Floorologist is correct in his assessment of using trims to cover up shoddy workmanship, especially on something as highly visible as a staircase.

The ONLY place trim looks correct on stairs is using scotia/cove under the tread where it meets the riser, as shown here.



This is the norm for many staircases. Also, this shows the correct way to terminate the end of a tread on an open sided staircase.

Exactly The points I was trying to get accross Next time I'll figure out how to post pictures.

I don't know how to add photos here, but I uploaded one to the gallery under Pictures for Problem Solutions. The skirting is pine and was already stained. It was my intention to paint it white. However I'm still not sure how this is going to turn out.

I woulda pulled the riser out to the edge of the stringer and avoided having to leave a gap there. Then you could scribe it to the tread. That just don't look right to me.

I would have advised replacing that pine stringer. Since you planned on painting it, replacing it with an MDF one would not have cost much. Then the contractor could have mitered the corner joints where the two materials come together, making for a nice, clean edge. At this point, nothing is going to look that great.

Its gonna be tough to make a silk purse out of this one.
What about overlaying a new thin riser over the existing, properly fitted to cover the gap under the treads, and the gap where the riser and stringer meet? You would still have the end grain of the new riser to deal with but this could be managed with a veneer glued to it. Not a perfect solution but better than a bunch of mouldings to conceal the obvious deficiencies in this stair construction.
Other than that, rebuild from scatch and take your financial lumps.