Hello all,

I removed old carpet from my stairs, removed old treads and risers, installed one extra stringer, installed new 2x10 d. fir treads and 1x8 pine risers and I'm about to cover it all with engineered hardwood floor. Everyone claims that flooring planks should be glued to the treads and risers and I have no objections. However, if any of these planks, for whatever reason, need to be replaced in the future, it will probably be very difficult to remove it from the tread it is glued to. So, my question is whether it would make any sense to glue a thin layer of cork underlayment between the tread and the flooring (glue on both sides, of course). It will probably be much easier to cut through the cork if removal is ever needed. I just worry whether something like this will be solid enough for the nosing. What is your opinion?

Thanks a lot.
Nick

If you use glue for both the treads and risers and use a bead of glue every 12 inches or so for the flooring, instead of a full trowel glue technique, you will be able to remove the parts without ruining the fir treads and risers. You could scrape the glue beads off without a lot of effort after removing the flooring however you can.
Adding the cork would only increase the chance of parts not being secure as it goes together. It will be another thing to remove if you ever try to replace the flooring.
You should use glue for assembling the treads and risers to the stringers so they support more weight.