Remove Stair Nosing & Staples - Page Four

Staples Galore

Staples and more staples, oh my! Carpet padding is usually attached to steps with Remove staples from wood steps a staple gun. After removing you will probably get little chunks wedged under the staples. To remove, needle nose pliers will work or what our installer, Tony Garrison (Tampa, FL area), is using. For other staples, you can remove, but pounding them flush with the wood works just as well.

Squeaky Stairs?

Considering carpet covered the steps, upon removal you may actually hear a few squeak. Carpet and it's padding can sometimes muffle the slightest effect. Once it's removed sounds can increase.

At this time do a thorough inspection of your stairs. Stairs also need to be flat much like the hardwood floor downstairs. Some framers don't look twice when these are installed. Some may figure it will be carpeted, so why bother. Check for flatness with a straight edge of some sort. This includes across the step, and also the width. Corrections can be made with a belt sander, chisel, planer or complete replacement of the substrate tread. Squeaks can be repaired by simply inserting wedges under the step.

Remove The Nosing

In order to install strip or plank on our stairs the existing nosing has to be Measure for bullnose cut-off removed. In this case the framers used 2" x 12's and the tread itself overlaps the riser by about 1" Using a tape measure, measure out the tread from each side of the step to the riser. It will vary on every step and is important to be exact.

Please excuse the mess, the treads were not prepped prior to doing this step. Think there is enough paint overspray there? Anyhoots, each and every tread will measure different. We found they varied anywhere from 13/16" up to 1 1/4"

Next step is to transfer measurements to the top of the tread itself and place your marks. Using a nail and chalk line, if you're working alone, snap the line. This will provide a guide as to how much material will be taken off the step with the use of a circular saw (pictures below).

Since May 0f 2004 when this article was written, a few installers have commented on this procedure, offering better methods of removing the nosing. Thankfully we have collaboration on the internet which is a great thing. After all, we do things different from the method in which we learned. A router has been mentioned to handle this task, but a superb tool of choice can be sawsall with a short blade to cut the nosing. It eliminates an enormous amount of setup time, while being much cleaner and safer to use at the same time.

Using a circular saw in such a small area can be intimidating. Use extreme care if you're not familiar. I would suggest hiring a carpenter to do the work if you're not comfortable. Only use sharp carbide blades when cutting. Our suggestion; buy a new one if the other one is worn out.

Preventing injury can be as easy as setting the blade depth of the circular saw to how much you have to remove. Our example calls for the blade to be set about 1/8" below the tread thickness. Always make sure any power tools are unplugged when making any adjustments. Once you are satisfied with the desired depth, make sure the locking mechanism is tight and keep your fingers away from the blade. It is important to keep the saw itself, on a parallel plane with the step when making the cut for reasons we'll explain later.

Go To: Mortised Hardwood Stairs - Fix Squeaks
Back To: Installing Hardwood On Stairs. Introduction

Other Pages In This Series:

• Measure For Hardwood Stairs
• Remove Carpet & Pad On Steps
• Remove Stair Bull Nose - Staples On Steps
• Mortised Hardwood Stairs - Fix Squeaks
• Installing Stair Risers
• Rip Cutting Risers With Table Saw
• Gluing Hardwood Steps