Sanded Through Veneer

[movnup]

I've been refinishing 800 square feet of my white oak hardwood floors (two weeks now) and hired a guy outside Home Depot to help for a day. To make a long story short he sanded though the oak veneer on a bunch of the stair treads to the plywood so I got what I paid for I guess.

My question is there a fix for this or do I need to pull off the trim, the bull-nose trim piece, and glue down new veneer on the one side of the stairs he worked on. If I do that it would be proud on one side so that's a finished project concern. There's six out of thirteen he trashed and the stair tread veneered plywood is under 8 inch trim on the wall side, carpet in the middle, and wood again on the balluster side. I'm just not seeing an easy path for this and could greatly use your collective wisdom !!!

THX - Jim Z.

[RodKirby]

Sorry - no magic solution

I hope you didn't pay him!

[All Thumbs]

I hope you didn't pay him!

I sure hope he did.

To the OP: I feel your pain.

Maybe now is the time to replace the treads with solid hardwood ones? They aren't THAT expensive.

[cabinetman]

Stair treads should be solid wood. Veneer should not be used in a heavy wear path. If the walkway is carpeted, you might get away with veneering.

But, I go along with replacing the treads if you can.

.

[movnup]

I thought I would post some pictures to give a better idea as replacing them sounds best ( $608 for tread / riser + trim costs) but would be a bear of a job. Why the builder cheaped out on the stair treads I have no clue as a curved stairway to build originally I'm sure was a lot of work.

I also did pay the worker as it was my fault not watching him close enough. Another worker I hired for the same job lasted 30 minutes and wanted to go back to HD ..... I don't think I'll be hiring these folks for any future projects anymore !!!

[TrentT]

That's what I was picturing when you were describing the problem. One option would be to pull the carpet on the stairs and replace all the stairs with solid wood. After all that work, I wouldn't replace the carpet as I think solid wood would look really good. The other option would be to try to glue new veneer over the wood on the stairs. You may be able to pull the carpet back a little to hide the edges of the veneer. The problem will be the drop off from the veneer to the bull nose. I don't see any easy solution except to make the stairs your next project.

[gerti]

Paint the non-carpeted part...

[chopnhack]

It looks like the plywood has a solid wood edging... if that is the case, why not trim the plywood edging flush with the white wall trim, reveneer the ply and then put new solid edge treatment, caulk the very fine joint between the wall and the white trim.

[movnup]

Great feedback everyone as it got me thinking of a hybrid of these ideas. What about a vertical cut down all along the skirt board to get out the veneered plywood / solid wood bullnose trim and then replace with new solid wood treads on that side. I would have a template for the curve for each stair and also wouldn't have to mess with attaching the bullnose trim or veneering each new four inch wide piece. Faster & cheaper as I would only need to buy / cut to fit one or two full treads versus thirteen.

Downside is a mismatch between the left and rights sides as to how it was built originally but I don't think you would notice it much as there's 40 inches of carpet between them.

Thoughts ?????

At the very least it would be a job made to order for my new multi-function oscillating tool that my wife knew I just had to have in order to do this job in the first place !!!

[All Thumbs]

Thoughts ?????

Looking at that pic, the use of plywood now makes sense.

In my older (slightly post WWII) house, they nailed everything. All solid lumber, no plywood anywhere. I get creeks and I can see open joints and observe the wood move.

In newer higher-end construction, they use glue and (often pocket) screws on stair cases. They may have used the plywood treads due to the odd shapes of them.

I think you're going to find it difficult, if not impossible, to remove either the treads or risers without a substantial fight.

I think I'd replace the carpeting going as wide as possible (flush to the wall on one side). Paint the treads/risers on the railing side, if need be.

[Greg in Maryland]

Personally I like squeaky treads -- it alerts me to Ninjas trying to sneak upstairs.

[Rand]

I also did pay the worker as it was my fault not watching him close enough.

You are a good man. I think I would have sanded his nose as payment.

[gsmittle]

Personally I like squeaky treads -- it alerts me to Ninjas trying to sneak upstairs.

Those are burglars. You wouldn't hear ninjas.

g.