Staircases

Staircases are a special challenge, and not every carpenter will work on them. Even fewer will do it well. A staircase appears to be made up of 90 degree angles, but once you put a good quality square on them, you immediately see the problem: the angles are never perfectly square, and the staircase is a high-visibility location in the house where those little gaps will stand out and look bad if not handled correctly. Not only does a poorly constructed staircase look bad, it can also present a constant trip hazard, and has important code compliance aspects as well.

This staircase was reclaimed two decades ago from a school and built into a home that contains many reclaimed elements which we also restored. The staircase had been installed with some damage from prior use, and had become extensively worn in the meantime. Also the house was a mishmash of stain colors and finish styles. We color-matched all the wood elements, and here is the final result on the staircase:

This recent project had previously been covered with carpet, so we removed all the existing unfinished pine treads and replaced them with these white oak treads. Since the staircase had been built with no expectation that the edges and corners would ever be seen, it required extensive tweaking and fitting.