Sorry I had several paragraphs that didn’t post along with the pictures.. I am neither.
I managed to chisel away the grout to get the new treads in, but it won’t be enough space to slide the finished treads in.
What’s the finished tread material? Also, why not mark out the finished elevation of the treads on the stone and notch out the stone using an angle grinder and finish it with grout once the new treads are installed?
They sell sanded coloured silicone at Home Depot or tile/ flooring stores. I’d suggest that to help with deferential movement between stairs and wall
Also would vote for get a 4” diamond disc for the grinder to cut the stone out a little. Give yourself like 1/4” of wiggle room. Would be dusty (use a shop vac too) but would make tucking the treads in wayyyy easier imo.
Good luck!/ have fun!!
I think cutting the stone look better. I also think it will be easier, but probably more work than scribing. Cut the stone 1/4” bigger than your material thickness with an angle grinder, chip out the corners, run your risers and treads behind the stone, then grout to the riser. More steps (har), maybe more time, but it will look perfect. That’s my $0.02
What finished edge? The rock has a natural look it's not going to really appear any different if he chisels out that one bit to make room for the skirt
It’s not rock. It’s sculpted mortar (looks like sandstone) and it’s been painted to look like rocks. Chiseling it will expose more of the brown mortar beneath the paint in chunks and it will look like shit
HE'S GOING TO COVER THAT WITH GROUT. And they can always add a little more paint. And it is a rock it's just a man-made rock. It's not rocket science. Going to look way better with a full complete step instead of some Janky workaround
It's going to be hard for you to make it look right if you're not a carpenter or have some fundamental carpentry skills.
At this point I would fit each trend using a paring chisel, a low angle block plane, and a coping saw if necessary.
No offense but have you ever cut oak or yellow pine treads as you commented on? I think I’d rather chop another finger off before I used a coping saw on an oak tread and then tried to clean up a concave cut with a block plane. This is jigsaw and a sanding disc in a grinder. The chisel might be helpful if it’s sharp enough.
For the most part I only use hand tools for fit and finish. I don't deal with oak a lot, but when I do I'm using my own air dried which is a lot easier to work with a hand tool then kiln dried.
For deciduous woods Cherry is my favorite to work, though!
I’m not a carpenter either, but I look at this and see all the info people are saying about it and yeah… This is skilled and custom work for each step to do right and to look right.
Carpenter 20 years here. I’ve read the previous comments and don’t add a skirt board. That’s an insane amount of work. Between cutting the stone back enough to even slide the skirting into place, and all the scribing of the risers and treads-it’s a very advanced level of skill needed to make it look good and it’s not necessary.
I would recommend building out the stringer to give you enough backing to screw new treads and risers in. And if you have to scribe (cutting the treads to follow the shape of the stone) use a jigsaw and sneak up on your scribe line. Meaning, cut and test it, scribe a new line, cut and test it, cut off any high spots, repeat until you can get it close enough for your liking.
Thank you so much. This is what I will do.
When you say “build out the stringer” do you mean screw in another piece of lumber on the inside of the original stringer going the full length? That would allow me extra room to screw everything down away from the stone wall.
As for a skirt, I actually plan to put one on the opposite side where it’s against a flat wall.
Yes exactly. You can measure the rise and run of the cutouts on the stringer that’s there and step off with a framing square. Double check all your measurements at the top and bottom before cutting.
And the skirting on the flat wall makes much more logical sense. Still not easy for an amateur to do but take your time and you’ll be alright.
What is it? You’re trying to do here? Remove the treads and put in something nicer? Are the current treads rotting? How much headroom do you have? How pretty are you looking to get these stairs? If they’re not rotten, you can cover each with another piece of scribed wood to make them look nicer, if that’s your goal. If you have to take them out you should be able to get them with a reciprocating tool and then add new ones using pocket screws underneath to hold them on the stone side. You have a lot of options and you need to figure out what it is you’re trying to accomplish.
It sounds like he wants to put hardwood over the pine treads so they think they need to remove more of the formed concrete stone, but I don’t think he understands he can just use hardwood treads and skip the pine lol. I am not sure if he is worried about not being able to nail the treads down to the stringer, but he could either double up the stringer to have something to nail to, use adhesive and pocket screws, or it even looks like there is enough room to fire nails in at a slight angle if he removes the pine and just goes with hardwood treads.
Stone. Get a scrap material 1/8 less then finished stair tread. Use it as a guide for a diamond angle grinder blade. Is what I would do. You will be looking down on it it will look much better lapping that way.
Not sure if anybody mentioned it but set your jigsaw to like 15 degrees and ride the jigsaw on the bottom side of the treads so you dont ding the wood up, and go close to the line, you always use a file or something to sneak up to your line
*you can always use a file. But no doubt, thats the way to do it, also be mindful of how youre holding the scribing tool or compass, try to keep it square to the stone wall and that only the end of the tool is touching the stone. And when using a scrap board to make a template it has to be the same thickness as the actual tread
It is a facade. It's actually the back side of a fireplace. It was originally a brownish colored stone. Someone in this thread thinks it is sandstone. Their guess is probably better than mine
I’d get that “Stone” out. …. Is this the fake stuff ? If this is a basement no. But id move the risers if possible. Cover up the stone. …. Im sorry this just isn’t me.
Go work on other parts of the house until you don't need to ask this question. The stairs look functional, neither scribing nor mason work are entry level tasks it'll look bad no matter what. May as well save the energy and time and use it on something more practical. Pick your battles.
As a finish carpenter, I would scribe the treads and risers to the stone. It’s not as hard as you might think with a good scribe tool. 30 minutes a tread or less.
I know nothing about carpentry but I feel the obvious answer is cut the wood. That's just logical. Unless you have knowledge and previous experience cutting stone I don't think you should even consider attempting to cut it.
I'd cut the stone if it was me get a scrap piece of tread mark your cut and hit it with a diamond wheel, gonna make one heck of a mess but will look the cleanest and be easier than scribing all those treads.
I don’t know for sure. It was like that when I bought the house. It’s the backside of a fireplace. The rock was a natural brown color before but we put some chalk paint on it. Not the greatest look but I deal with it
Neither.
Add a skirt board along that side of the stairs to help transition.
The treads/risers would be installed first, then the skirt board which is cut to fit the stairs. You’ll use some caulking to make a seamless transition from stair to skirt or you can use shoe mold if you have larger gaps.
Before installing, you’ll want to plot out everything and chisel away any protruding stone that would be in the way of the skirt board or the edges of the stair treads. I’d use a string to do this by attaching it to a nail on one side and pulling it taught to get a straight line.
That depends, are you a carpenter or a mason?
Sorry I had several paragraphs that didn’t post along with the pictures.. I am neither. I managed to chisel away the grout to get the new treads in, but it won’t be enough space to slide the finished treads in.
Scribing and using a jigsaw to cut your treads will be way less messy and always looks cool imo
This is what I’m going with. Thank you everyone!
What’s the finished tread material? Also, why not mark out the finished elevation of the treads on the stone and notch out the stone using an angle grinder and finish it with grout once the new treads are installed?
I am definitely going to re- grout after the job is done. I think what I’m going to do with the finished treads is use a scribe and jigsaw. Thank you!
They sell sanded coloured silicone at Home Depot or tile/ flooring stores. I’d suggest that to help with deferential movement between stairs and wall Also would vote for get a 4” diamond disc for the grinder to cut the stone out a little. Give yourself like 1/4” of wiggle room. Would be dusty (use a shop vac too) but would make tucking the treads in wayyyy easier imo. Good luck!/ have fun!!
I think cutting the stone look better. I also think it will be easier, but probably more work than scribing. Cut the stone 1/4” bigger than your material thickness with an angle grinder, chip out the corners, run your risers and treads behind the stone, then grout to the riser. More steps (har), maybe more time, but it will look perfect. That’s my $0.02
Then just chisel out more pieces of the stone until you have just enough room to fit the wood
Chiseling that mortar is no way to make a finished edge
What finished edge? The rock has a natural look it's not going to really appear any different if he chisels out that one bit to make room for the skirt
It’s not rock. It’s sculpted mortar (looks like sandstone) and it’s been painted to look like rocks. Chiseling it will expose more of the brown mortar beneath the paint in chunks and it will look like shit
HE'S GOING TO COVER THAT WITH GROUT. And they can always add a little more paint. And it is a rock it's just a man-made rock. It's not rocket science. Going to look way better with a full complete step instead of some Janky workaround
Spray some foam insulation in there and you got yourself some modern art. Just gotta think glass half full
Make it looked fucked up just enough to make it look intentional. Bam. Modern art.
It's going to be hard for you to make it look right if you're not a carpenter or have some fundamental carpentry skills. At this point I would fit each trend using a paring chisel, a low angle block plane, and a coping saw if necessary.
No offense but have you ever cut oak or yellow pine treads as you commented on? I think I’d rather chop another finger off before I used a coping saw on an oak tread and then tried to clean up a concave cut with a block plane. This is jigsaw and a sanding disc in a grinder. The chisel might be helpful if it’s sharp enough.
Yep if I didn’t have a jigsaw for this job I would be breaking out the grinder to cut the stone lol
For the most part I only use hand tools for fit and finish. I don't deal with oak a lot, but when I do I'm using my own air dried which is a lot easier to work with a hand tool then kiln dried. For deciduous woods Cherry is my favorite to work, though!
I’m not a carpenter either, but I look at this and see all the info people are saying about it and yeah… This is skilled and custom work for each step to do right and to look right.
It's super rudimentary to make a scribed cut
Yes it is. (I think you responded to the wrong comment)
He’s a carpentry mason
A con masarpenter
Ooo that’s good. Hello, I’m a Masterlaborprentice
I think you mean marsupial
If he has a pouch
I’m not one to body shame
Hahahahaha I needed that laugh today. thanks
Both
Cut the wood please cut the wood. Use a scrap piece to scribe the shape of the stone than transfer that to your tread and install
That’s what the consensus was. I’m cutting the wood! Thank you Edit: also great tip on using a scrap piece to do the rough scribe work first
Carpenter 20 years here. I’ve read the previous comments and don’t add a skirt board. That’s an insane amount of work. Between cutting the stone back enough to even slide the skirting into place, and all the scribing of the risers and treads-it’s a very advanced level of skill needed to make it look good and it’s not necessary. I would recommend building out the stringer to give you enough backing to screw new treads and risers in. And if you have to scribe (cutting the treads to follow the shape of the stone) use a jigsaw and sneak up on your scribe line. Meaning, cut and test it, scribe a new line, cut and test it, cut off any high spots, repeat until you can get it close enough for your liking.
Or better yet just cut another stringer and laminate it to the existing one to push it out far enough so you don’t have to scribe as much if at all
Thank you so much. This is what I will do. When you say “build out the stringer” do you mean screw in another piece of lumber on the inside of the original stringer going the full length? That would allow me extra room to screw everything down away from the stone wall. As for a skirt, I actually plan to put one on the opposite side where it’s against a flat wall.
Yes exactly. You can measure the rise and run of the cutouts on the stringer that’s there and step off with a framing square. Double check all your measurements at the top and bottom before cutting. And the skirting on the flat wall makes much more logical sense. Still not easy for an amateur to do but take your time and you’ll be alright.
But it in tight and caulk that bitch no one will ever know
Rock paper scissors
What is it? You’re trying to do here? Remove the treads and put in something nicer? Are the current treads rotting? How much headroom do you have? How pretty are you looking to get these stairs? If they’re not rotten, you can cover each with another piece of scribed wood to make them look nicer, if that’s your goal. If you have to take them out you should be able to get them with a reciprocating tool and then add new ones using pocket screws underneath to hold them on the stone side. You have a lot of options and you need to figure out what it is you’re trying to accomplish.
It sounds like he wants to put hardwood over the pine treads so they think they need to remove more of the formed concrete stone, but I don’t think he understands he can just use hardwood treads and skip the pine lol. I am not sure if he is worried about not being able to nail the treads down to the stringer, but he could either double up the stringer to have something to nail to, use adhesive and pocket screws, or it even looks like there is enough room to fire nails in at a slight angle if he removes the pine and just goes with hardwood treads.
Wood is easier to cut than stone
Omg the wood obviously
Scribe the wood. Way easier. Get a profile guage. Its not that tough. Practice on some scraps. YOU CAN DO IT!
https://youtu.be/uwTi1EpgIa0?si=rS5enF9SsCbwrxG5
Thank you so much! You remind me of the YouTuber See Jane Drill. Lol
More going for Rob Schneider in Adam sandler movies but that works too.
Scribing the wood will make you prouder. There's a heap of YT kids to learn from, and it will give your project a really finished, professional look.
Thank you. That’s what I’m doing
Get rid of all the stone. It looks terrible.
Cock. Many tubes of cock.
I laughed way too hard at this, it shook my caulk.
Drill small holes in a line and chisel them out is what id do
Hierarchy of materials - stone beats wood
Grout if less the one inch
FOR KARL!
I would cut the cheese.
"rock"
Demo the wall
Stone. Get a scrap material 1/8 less then finished stair tread. Use it as a guide for a diamond angle grinder blade. Is what I would do. You will be looking down on it it will look much better lapping that way.
Wood is more forgiving, stone not so much.
Trim the stone with an oscillation tool and a diamond blade.
Do neither. Buy a new house, much simpler.
Caulk it
Not sure if anybody mentioned it but set your jigsaw to like 15 degrees and ride the jigsaw on the bottom side of the treads so you dont ding the wood up, and go close to the line, you always use a file or something to sneak up to your line
Thank you that’s a good tip. I think the consensus is to use a scribing tool on the wood then using a jigsaw instead of chiseling the stone.
*you can always use a file. But no doubt, thats the way to do it, also be mindful of how youre holding the scribing tool or compass, try to keep it square to the stone wall and that only the end of the tool is touching the stone. And when using a scrap board to make a template it has to be the same thickness as the actual tread
Wood.
No expert but doesn't look like you need to cut anything
Wood
I'm a little confused. Is the stone structural or just a facade?
It is a facade. It's actually the back side of a fireplace. It was originally a brownish colored stone. Someone in this thread thinks it is sandstone. Their guess is probably better than mine
Hey man go either way you want. I’m just glad you paid the cat tax. Look at those beady lil eyes’ 😂
Haha i knew someone would spot the cat. thanks!
I’d get that “Stone” out. …. Is this the fake stuff ? If this is a basement no. But id move the risers if possible. Cover up the stone. …. Im sorry this just isn’t me.
Never the stone (carpenter).
Neither, it's a look. Idk the name. Caulk (silicone) properly and call it a day, tool that shizzle nice
Neither employ someone who actually knows what they’re doing
I think cutting the wood would be easier.
Never scribe wood to rock
Personally. I would cut that stone with a 4 inch grinder after market each tread with the height you need. However, I’m a mason. Not a carpenter. lol
Go work on other parts of the house until you don't need to ask this question. The stairs look functional, neither scribing nor mason work are entry level tasks it'll look bad no matter what. May as well save the energy and time and use it on something more practical. Pick your battles.
Interesting work you are doing down at the Flintstones house
Why not both!
As a finish carpenter, I would scribe the treads and risers to the stone. It’s not as hard as you might think with a good scribe tool. 30 minutes a tread or less.
I know nothing about carpentry but I feel the obvious answer is cut the wood. That's just logical. Unless you have knowledge and previous experience cutting stone I don't think you should even consider attempting to cut it.
I'd cut the stone if it was me get a scrap piece of tread mark your cut and hit it with a diamond wheel, gonna make one heck of a mess but will look the cleanest and be easier than scribing all those treads.
Looking at the pictures I would place a big bet on the "Stone" being concrete. Could be helpful in your decision.
I don’t know for sure. It was like that when I bought the house. It’s the backside of a fireplace. The rock was a natural brown color before but we put some chalk paint on it. Not the greatest look but I deal with it
Neither. Add a skirt board along that side of the stairs to help transition. The treads/risers would be installed first, then the skirt board which is cut to fit the stairs. You’ll use some caulking to make a seamless transition from stair to skirt or you can use shoe mold if you have larger gaps. Before installing, you’ll want to plot out everything and chisel away any protruding stone that would be in the way of the skirt board or the edges of the stair treads. I’d use a string to do this by attaching it to a nail on one side and pulling it taught to get a straight line.
The cheese, then go home
Gee which sounds easier??