Ok, getting ready to work on my first staircase. Kind of worried but ready to take on this new challenge.

My first question:

When installing planks on a step, do you start from back to front or front to back? I ask this cause I am not sure on how to nail down the bullnose plank. I assume I want to avoid top nailing this. So how is this done? If I lay my first plank back next to the riser and then proceed to the front of the step I will come to a Bullnose plank that I cannot nail at an angle.

I apologize for the lack of correct terminology but I am reading the posts and trying to get in gear.

Thanks

ttby:

Have you seen our section installing on stairs?


http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwo ... suring.htm

When it comes to the stairnosing I try to cut it so it will fit snug. You can use a brad nailer(wire nails) to keep it in place before the adhesive sets. Side nail into the groove portion of the nosing.

I have always glued & top nailed stairnoses. Using a brad nailer like Ken suggested.

Colored wood filler and it is not seen from a standing position.

I work from the bottom, and front to back. I rough out the treds and risers, holidng them together with blue tape. I use a stair wizard, work from bottom to top, and cut all the risers, then do the treds. Then install them.

Thanks for the replies. I saw the tutorial on installing steps on the site and it was very informative.

I didn't know that top nailing was acceptable. So that shouldn't be that tough. I'm sure I'm going to run into a bunch of other issues.

One more question, I know this is frowned uppon but I have particle board as a subfloor. Don't want to spend that much money on removing or adding plywood. Is installing hardwood on particle board really bad?

If your flooring is engineered (veneered) and designed for gluing down, then gluing it over particle board is ok; not perfect but acceptable. If your flooring is solid and is to be nailed down, p. board is not an approved subfloor. I will tell you I do see some solid, nail down installations over p. board down by pros (?) usually because they're too lazy to remove p.board. IMO, p. board is only a problem if there is moisture issues or you're planning to nail down a wood floor to it. You can float or glue an engineered wood floor over a well attached p. board subfloor or underlayment. Not my preference but acceptable.

Spend it now--or expect to spend double or triple that when it has to be replaced or when the floor starts to feel squishy, squeak or make other noises. We had someone ask why similar things were happening a few months back. Sure enough it was particle board. I'm quite sure he regretted it!

If in doubt always refer to manufacturers specifications

Thanks, that's the answer I expected. I guess I will probably add some plywood over the particle board. Is there any suggested thickness that I should follow? Right now the hallway that I plan on doing first, I have no door concerns becuase I have about 1.5 inches to work with from the existing subfloor.

Thanks for all your help and advice guys. I took some pics of my existing staircase and hallway, I will post them next week sometime.

ttby4444,

I would think that if you're going to add the plywood you might as well rip out the particle board. It doesn't add anything at that point, but it could down the road undermine your floor if you ever had any moisture issues. Even dry locations suffer leaking pipes, foundation cracks, roofing leaks, and so forth eventually. Just a thought.

What we have here is a terminology problem. TTBY444 said he has a particle board SUBFLOOR. Where I come from and from my understanding of general home construction, a subfloor is the deck upon which the wall framing is installed upon. A subfloor is directly attached to the joists/trusses by glue and fasteners/nails. To tell a "newbie" to rip this out is incredibly wrong. Might as well tell him to bulldoze his house. The proper course of action if his subfloor is particle board is to overlay it with 1/2" CDX plywood. Now if you all are confusing a subfloor with an UNDERLAYMENT, that is a different matter and serves a different function in a residence. An underlayment is used on top of the subfloor to provide a smoother surface (for sheet vinyl) and it has been used to stiffen a subfloor to install other flooring products such as tile and wood. Particle board has been used for decades as an underlayment for all flooring materials. With the exception of sheet vinyl, I do not recommend particle board as an underlayment. For wood, I recommend plywood. For tile, I recommend a cementious tile backer board. For cork and vct, a high quality plywood underlayment.

This is the second time someone has been told to rip out their particle board SUBFLOOR. The first time, the person really meant underlayment. I think it is absolutely irresponsible to tell someone to do this without knowing whether they're refering to underlayment or subflooring. So, in the future, please find out if it is underlayment or subflooring before you tell someone it has to be ripped out!

I'll get down off my soap box now!

Great point Gary.

I did assume he meant underlayment because I can't imagine any building code that would allow particle board to be a true subfloor. If there is one, remind me not to move there.

In all seriousness are there areas that would allow particle board to be a structural component? That seems like a recipe for structural failures (keeping in mind I'm not a pro so I could be missing something important).

Gary:

Many confuse particle board with oriented strand board(OSB). Could be that ttby may actually have OSB. I'll include a "sticky message" at the top of the page of this forum for you guys to elaborate. Aterall it's an often asked question that many are confused with.

Anyone is free to add their thoughts.

Particle board has indeed been used as subflooring. And for more than 40 yrs. Georgia-Pacific made a material called RED-X that was basically a 1" thick dark brown particle board subfloor panel. It has been used in CA. since the mid 1960's and was dicontinued about 14 yrs. ago (1990,the advent of OSB) Even now, most modular and mobile homes use partcle board subfloors. I know because I've worked on many of them. Modulars and mobile homes are all across this country and are allowed to use p. board.

It would be great if you could elaborate on how to identify whether it is OSB, Red-X, or particle board. As well as the suitability of each for staple/nail down, glue, etc. I'd love to know just for geekiness sake, but I'm sure it would be helpful for people searching the board. Thanks.

Great point, Gary.


I'm guilty of assuming the particle board is an underlayment.

I always call the subfloor anything under the finished flooring. Even if it is a sandwich.