If you like watching old black and white movies like I do, then you probably noticed the handsomely and beautifully made staircases. You likely noticed the beautiful dark wooden handrails some with goose neck ends and caps. How about the stylish balusters. Did you notice the carefully made starting step? In industry terms there're a called bull nose steps. Many of them were nicely rounded, featuring newel post on either side. If the staircase was built against a wall what you saw, going the length the the stairs, was thick, wide well crafted molding which is virtually impossible to find today. The staircases in some of those movies were nice and wide and thus made it one of the stand out features of the house. Carpenters in the old days really took pride in building them, it was the signature of their work.
When built and installed properly, stairs are easy to ascend and descend. They should be installed at a proper slope so that the raisers are at or near the same height. They should also be sturdy enough to with stand any amount of foot traffic that may be imposed upon them. Even today a well made staircase can be a stand out feature that brings charm and elegance to the house.
When stairs Squeak
If you have an older house it's not unusual for the stairs to squeak. Likely they were built with nails which don't have the holding power of wood screws. This could turn your beautiful stairs into an annoyance when in use. What can you do if they squeak? If you have access to the underside of the stairs you're in great shape. I was called several weeks ago to inspect and repair a staircase that squeaked from top to bottom. The owners were going crazy when they used them. When I got there I was relieved that I had access to the underside of the entire staircase. I found a couple things that contributed to the squeaks.
Housed stringers are made to accept not only treads and risers, but also wedges. Wedges are important because they keep the risers and treads tight and in place. In this house some of the wedges were broken and needed to be replaced. The picture below shows the wedges that was installed.
As you can see the wedges keeps the rises and treads tight to the stringers which helps eliminate squeaks. Through out the entire length of the stairs, wedges should be installed with glue.
In addition to this, screw blocks are installed under the treads and against the top of the risers. They are installed at each stair carriage and at intermediate locations. The picture below shows the blocks that were installed.
Some steps took more blocks than others. You have to install as many as you need for each step. The 2x6 you see was probably installed to do the job of the blocks, but because it does not cover the length of the treads and raises as the blocks do, it does little in preventing squeaks.
After a few test runs up and down the stairs, they are now firm and quiet. Repairing the squeaking stairs has given the owners a peace of mind, as they thought it was necessary to rebuild the entire staircase. What's just as important as a beautiful staircase, is a quiet staircase.
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