Hardwood Stairs Capping and Refinishing

Regardless of your particular staircase design. Whether it be straight or curved, one that incorporates landings or odd shaped treads such as diamonds, trapezoid or triangles, or even Open riser stairs. You have come to the right place.

"StairSteps" is a remodelling company that specializes in tread re-capping and staircase refinishing. If you reside in the GTA, especially Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington or Toronto,

You no longer have to look at that old carpet, or builders yellowing polyurethane finish.

Closed Stairs

A Closed Stair, also known as a "Boxed Stair" will have a wall on either side of the stair tread. The stair treads and risers will butt up against the inside of the staircase stringers on either side. This type of stair is usually rectangular, and not a closed pie shaped as shown. Stair stringers are never straight. Therefore installing Closed Hardwood Stair Caps is not as simple as cutting to a measurement. They must be trimmed several times in order to fit each unique opening. Sometimes closed or boxed stairs do not have walls on either side. In these cases Spindles or Pickets will be installed atop the stringers instead of on the stair treads.

Open One Side Stairs

A One Side Open Stair will have one side of the tread and riser adjoining the wall, where as the other side of the tread will slightly extend or cascade (which is the nosing and return) over the stringer. Spindles or Pickets will be inserted into the stair treads open side of the staircase, supporting the handrail. Open one side hardwood stair caps need to be scribed in order to fit correctly.

Open Both Sides Stairs

A Both Sides Open Stair will have both sides of the tread slightly extending or cascading over the stringers  (which is the nosing and return). Therefore with a both sides open stair you will have Spindles or Pickets on either side inserted into the stair tread, supporting the handrails. Open both side Stair Caps need to be measured perfectly before manufacture in order to fit correctly

Open Riser Stairs

An Open Riser Staircase has only treads and not risers. You will be able to look straight through the staircase. This is great for allowing light to enter an area, where as in a conventional staircase the risers would have blocked the light. The underside of the treads must obviously be in a finished condition. One caveat is that you lose the "Under the stairs" storage.

A common misconception is that risers can simply be removed to create an "Open riser staircase", but risers provide stability, so if an open riser staircase is desired the stringers will have to be strengthened, or a completely new staircase will need to be installed

Stairs With Triangle & Trapezoid

A staircase that has triangular and trapezoid shaped treads AKA "Kite Winder" will also make up a 90 degree turn in the staircase from top to bottom (or level to level). This type of staircase will have a triangle then a trapezoid followed by an additional triangular shaped tread. On occation there are only 2 larger triangular shaped treads that make up the 90 degree turn. These odd shaped treads are cut out of solid hardwood to fit.

In order to properly install a "Kite Winder" series of Hardwood Stair Caps, templates are required. We first create an over sized template, manufacture the tread, finish with stain and varnish and then fine tune template on site

Stairs With Landings

A staircase with a landing will typically turn 90 degrees from top to bottom (or from floor level to floor level). All of the treads will be a rectangular shape. The landing which is typically about 10 to 12 square feet in area will allow for the 90 degree turn in the staircase. Landings can either be finished in regular hardwood flooring planks or boards, or a solid hardwood piece cut to fit.

A staircase that turns 180 degrees will have a larger landing, usually about 20-25 sq/ft These treads are installed using the scribing method

Curved Staircase

A Curved, Helix or Circular staircase will typically turn 90 degrees from top to bottom (or from floor level to floor level). One side is usually open and the other closed. Along with a "First step" usually curved on the open side, you will have a combination of rectangular as well as "Pie shaped" treads which makes up the 90 degree turn between levels of the home.

In order to properly install a "Pie shaped tread" Hardwood Stair Cap, templates are required. We first create an over sized template, manufacture the tread, finish with stain and varnish and then fine tune template on site. Similar to the "kite winder" series. The difference is a second template is not needed to fine tune.

Beware of "Precut pie shaped capping treads". Helix or curved staircases are not created equal. The amount of "pie shaped" stair treads that make up the 90 degree turn varies from 4-14 steps. So naturally the radius will change also. It is not a one size fits all solution.

What To Do With Our Stair Stringers

When having your staircase remodeled, this is a scenario that arises the majority of the time. "What to do with our Stair Stringers". If your design plans are to have the entire staircase in Oak or Maple etc.., and your stringers are currently construction grade lumber which is typically Spruce (usually painted white), then you will have no choice but to have them veneered in Hardwood (reface) in order to create the look that you desire.

When we apply this process, we can make your stringers look as if they were a solid piece of hardwood, completely matching your new stairs. The top (perpendicular to the wall), sides (parallel to the wall) as well as all other small surfaces will all need to be refaced. New hardwood trim will also replace the paint grade trim that rests atop and possibly on the underside of the stringers. On the other hand if you currently have hardwood veneered stringers, then we can sand off the existing polyurethane/varnish and stain, then re-stain, polyurethane/varnish to the desired colour. From a financial perspective the cost to reface your stringers in Oak veneer, will cost significantly more than the sanding and staining option.

Many times our clients are faced with the dilemma of having construction grade stringers, and were thinking to have matching stringers. But from a financial perspective they do not want to install an Oak veneer. Well all is not lost. A beautiful, contemporary and popular style staircase solution can still be achieved. This is done by re-painting the stringers white, installing white risers, keep the existing handrails and sanding, staining and finishing them to match the new Oak treads (Steps). Now, the money they saved on not veneering the stringers can largely offset the cost of installing new wrought iron spindles. Now were talking ...

But what if your current stringers are veneered with a colour that you like? Then, we do not have to do anything, other than match the new treads and risers (unless white risers of course) to the current colour. The point here is this. No matter what type of staircase that you have, or what you budget is, we can turn your current staircase into a focal point.

But in our opinion White risers and stringers achieves a cleaner, more contemporary and bright finished product. But in the end, it's your house ... isn't it!