Hey guys,

New member but long time lurker here.

looking for some advice for where the hardwood transitions to the stairs. I searched but found nothing exact.

I am replacing the second storye floors in my 1967 home which are 1/4"x2" oak strips.

The subfloor is 1x6" diagonal plank so i will be reinforcing it with an additional layer of 5/8th ply followed by a 1/2" stapled engineered floor.

So after removing the old oak, the new floor will be 7/8th of an inch higher
than the stair nosing. (5/8"ply + 1/2"hardwood - 1/4" old floor = 7/8th)

Looking for some options and suggestions. I was thinking of just cutting back the existing bull nosing and adding a new one ontop. Problem is that it would put the rise to 8". The other rises are 7 1/4" so I believe that would be against code. (max 3/8th" variance allowed)

Suggestions greatly appreciated.

Location Ontario, Canada.

cheers!

Kim

The ½ inch pre-finished flooring that you are using may have pre-finished nosing that you can use to install flooring on the steps. The only problem would be at the first tread at the bottom. You would use the 5/8ths inch thick plywood to "re-enforce" the treads, too. Your new riser should cover the edge of the plywood that is exposed
Why people think that a sub-floor needs to have another layer of plywood to re-enforce the existing 1X6 sub-floor is beyond me.

Hey Pete, thanks for the reply. The existin 1x6 subfloor is not T&G and quite franky it doesn't feel very strong and squeaks a lot. I reinforced the lower level already with the 5/8ths and it is now very strong so I just naturally figured i'd do the same upstairs.

As Pete said, you should probably adjust the stair treads too so that the rises will be code compliant. You said that you increased your lower level floor by 5/8" which means the rise from the lower level floor to your first tread is now out of compliance.

Thanks Jim. Guess I was a bit naive and hoping these was some magical way to fix this. Is this a scenario that you pro's run into often. Ever had any issues come up from this? Cheers.

A diagonal sub-floor will not squeak if it is fastened down well.
The squeaks are usually related to nails that are not set or veer away from the joist when they are hammered in. There may be squeaks from loose floor joists, but another layer of plywood will not remedy this problem.
A little deflection with weight applied results in a more comfortable floor as you walk on it, compared to a cement slab which has no deflection.
Solid wood deflects less than plywood, but when laid diagonally it has a longer span on average for each board.
The deflection that takes place is minor and will not affect the fasteners that hold a subsequent finished floor.
I warn clients about non-conforming risers when installing a floor where there are steps to another level of the house.