Several of the winders were split and sagging badly at the crack. I finally ripped off the drywall below, and this is what I found:
Someone must have attempted a previous repair from above, prying off the winder tread, and then engineered a "clever" way of putting support under the split. First, he built a platform out of 1/2" plywood and wedged it in, nailing it for stability to the (removed) drywall with finishing nails. Then he took a bunch of oak flooring scraps and piled them up. Then he wrapped the whole thing with duct tape. Notice how one of the boards also provides lateral bracing against the load-bearing (removed) drywall. Unfortunately, he didn't have quite enough oak scraps to reach from the platform to the tread. But--a rock could be wedged in underneath to support the stack. Now he just needed to replace the tread, drive in a few finishing nails from the top to hold things in place, and sell the house!
Chris
Someone must have attempted a previous repair from above, prying off the winder tread, and then engineered a "clever" way of putting support under the split. First, he built a platform out of 1/2" plywood and wedged it in, nailing it for stability to the (removed) drywall with finishing nails. Then he took a bunch of oak flooring scraps and piled them up. Then he wrapped the whole thing with duct tape. Notice how one of the boards also provides lateral bracing against the load-bearing (removed) drywall. Unfortunately, he didn't have quite enough oak scraps to reach from the platform to the tread. But--a rock could be wedged in underneath to support the stack. Now he just needed to replace the tread, drive in a few finishing nails from the top to hold things in place, and sell the house!
Chris
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