Stairs. Repair of stairs

Use of typical stairs in the individual dwelling house is not always possible, and therefore home master often faces the question of making stairs or repairing the existing one. Beside its main function – facilitation of man’s movement from one floor to another, stairs become an artwork for apartment decoration.

In repairs and reconstructionsof individual dwelling houses one often faces repair of stairs connecting the space of different floors with each other, or leading to the attic floor.

Repair of stairs. The first step is to find the reasons of failure

Before you start repair of stairs, find our the reason of stairs breakdown. It often happens that the reason is not in stairs, but in construction of building elements.

For example, subsiding wooden floor on which stairs have been mounted can result in its bowing or loosening. In such cases you shall first repair the floor or floor deck.

There are cases when flight of stairs has been made in a wrong way, or damages are so serious that repair of such flight can turn into a big problem. In these situations you’d better replace the whole flight of stairs.

Damages easy to removed happen more often, they are: creak of steps, broken parts of stairs, loosening rail post or worn tread.

Repair of stairs. The second step is to remove damages

Repair of stairs. Creak removing

A popular damage of stairs is creak. The reason of creak is friction of some wooden details of stairs with another. In most cases friction shows that some part of tread adjoins bridgeboard or tread rise not closely. It appears due to casting or drying of wooden details.

There are several methods to remove creak. If you press the step to the tread rise with nails, deformation will stop and creak will disappear. Steps can also shimmed with a thin wedge.

Repair of stairs. Removing molds, spalls and cracks

Molds and spalls on stair steps are repaired by wooden inserts. To repair them damaged place is cut off by chisel or other tools and a wooden insert is glued instead. Such repair requires careful fitting of insert and its correct choosing.

Repaired place shall be glazed, carefully smoothed out and painted in the colour of stairs. Cracks or fallen knots are also repaired by glueing similar timber.

Repair of stairs. Broken rail posts

Cracked or broken rail posts of stairs spoil their appearance and reduce durability. Such rail posts shall be replaced. To do that, after you have removed broken rail post, insert a new rail post of required shape and size to the rail with its upper end, and the lower dowel is put into the tread opening, having previously risen the rail.

Repair of stairs. Replacement of tread

If there is a need to replace tread, first of all remove rail posts fixed on tread, and then remove the tread itself. Mounting of new tread shall be started with consideration to previously executed couplings of tread with tread rise and bridgeboard. If you fail to restore desired appearance of steps during their repair or replacement, they shall be covered with carpet or other decorative materials.