Hello,

I contracted to have my staircase laid out with Brazilian Cherry treads, risers, and ironwork rails as part of my larger remodel. The job is pretty good but some of the treads are not flush against the drywall on the closed side. Two have a 1/8” gap and one has a 3/16” gap in a very visible part of the staircase. The rest of the treads are either perfect, or have smaller gaps that are not visually significant. One of the treads with a 1/8" gap has a 1.5 inch crack on the nose that was not visible until I sealed the wood, but looks bad now.

My contractor is working with me but, but they are also suggesting that the treads are within tolerances and the normal way to finish this would be with a bead of caulk that is then painted to match the wall. I am having difficulty understanding why the treads where not cut flush in the first place—high end carpentry should be visually perfect, right? This was not cheap.

As uninvolved professionals, what do you all think? Am I being an ass to ask that the 3 treads be replaced, or is it reasonable to expect the treads should have been cut flush in the first place? What is reasonable and customary in the industry?

Also, Would the caulking suggested look right on a 3/16 gap on a tread? I am not so sure.

Thanks,

David

I don't know of an "Industry Standard". IMO minor touchup is always to be expected. The question is...where do you draw the line. To me, an 1/8" gap is pushing it. You may hear different opinions. But I would say it should be the installers responsibility to try and hide it, not yours.
Without seeing the crack, and the location, it's hard to say. It may be repairable, it may not, and may be a problem later.

1/8 is way too large a gap for me never mind 3/16 especially if the stairs are open on one side they should fit much tighter. I would give the installer a chance to caulk them but if you still aren't pleased insist they are replaced, atleast the cracked one should be replaced no matter what.

Thanks for the input. Here is a pic of the 3/16 gap:




--David

That gap is rediculous . They need to replace it.

That looks bad, not acceptable IMO.

I dont think you will find ANYONE on this forum that would try to tell you that the gap as shown, would be acceptable. Even given that the drywall has a texture to it, it is such a simple task to fit the tread properly.
You are certainly within reasonable expectation to have them replace those treads that dont fit properly. And the one with the crack will most likely deteriorate with time.

lazy folks dont like to do prep, looks like that wall will have to be sanded a little to get the tread to fit tight, should have taken about five minitues.

You are right Kevin, but figure this: assume he has 12 treads and only 3 are not correctly fitted. Pure laziness since they obviously got some of them right.
The guys knew WHAT to do, just couldn't be bothered applying that good old adage: measure twice, cut once.

I would say a case of prep laziness as well. What I dont understand ...If you use a stair jig to mark the treds, you have to try to be off that far .