# Best way to trim stairwell?



## fvmerl (Jan 24, 2007)

I just framed in a few rooms for a man cave on the second floor of a detached garage. I will be doing the trim for the entire area and have been offering advise on other trades. 

The stairwell is about 16 feet long on the diagonal, 3' 10" wide, pine tread and risers with bullnose. When this was originally built, the stairwell was not intended to be seen by visitors. One side of the steps butt flush to the exterior wall studs and the other side has drywall between them and the studs. My problem is how to trim the stairs? I suggested cutting about 1 1/4" of the bullnose back to the risers on the exterior wall side. This would allow the drywall to fit around the stairs and for me to add a 1 x 12 trim board. The drywall and trim board would have to be cut like a stringer but this seems like the easiest and best looking solution to me. Any ideas? Maybe cut the other side back just 3/4" for my trim board? I looked at removing the treads and cutting them but they are glued and I don't want to mess with trying to get them off.


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## C.C.R. (May 19, 2006)

am I understanding you correctly, thinking there's no SR on the exterior wall? If so, is that outside stringer nailed tight up against the Ext. wall? 

If yes, I thimk your on the right track. 

If there happens to be a 2x4 between the studs and stringer as in today's constr. Then include the risers in your plan to cut. then you have less cuts on you SR and 1x12:thumbsup:


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## fvmerl (Jan 24, 2007)

The outside stringer is nailed flush to the studs so we can't get anything between the stringer and wall. I guess just cut trim and sheetrock like an upside down stringer and maybe put some shoe as trim to hide my mistakes on the risers. He hasn't decided whether to paint or stain the stairs. I pushed for stain but paint and caulk would hide any gaps.


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## Railman (Jan 19, 2008)

fvmerl said:


> I just framed in a few rooms for a man cave on the second floor of a detached garage. I will be doing the trim for the entire area and have been offering advise on other trades.
> 
> The stairwell is about 16 feet long on the diagonal, 3' 10" wide, pine tread and risers with bullnose. When this was originally built, the stairwell was not intended to be seen by visitors. One side of the steps butt flush to the exterior wall studs and the other side has drywall between them and the studs. My problem is how to trim the stairs? I suggested cutting about 1 1/4" of the bullnose back to the risers on the exterior wall side. This would allow the drywall to fit around the stairs and for me to add a 1 x 12 trim board. The drywall and trim board would have to be cut like a stringer but this seems like the easiest and best looking solution to me. Any ideas? Maybe cut the other side back just 3/4" for my trim board? I looked at removing the treads and cutting them but they are glued and I don't want to mess with trying to get them off.


I think your plan is by far the best method. The hardest part will be to cut/ fit the stringers to the risers, & treads. I would be inclined to use a fine handsaw up against a slotted saw guide, nailed to the wall to get the proper tread nose cuts. Maybe use a board about 1/16" thinner than the finish stringer? I would push painting the stringers, & maybe staining the treads. That way, you could still caulk the voids at the sides, after the treads sealed. It will definitely work though.
Joe


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## orson (Nov 23, 2007)

I cut a reverse stringer(my own name for it, not sure what it's really called) in a similar situation where a set of steps was against plaster on brick. Someone removed the plaster and exposed the brick, carpeted the steps which covered most of the gap. 

After removing the carpet and refinishing the steps I notched each step's bullnosing back using a bosch flushcut saw. I then took 2 lengths of 1"x and cut my "reverse stringer" out of the 2 pieces. I needed 2 pieces of 10 or 12 foot stock because the 16' was not long enough. If you have to 2 piece it don't do what I did, make sure you run a stringline down the steps to make sure both pieces are running in a straight line. My steps were off and I ended up with a "sag" in the middle. Still looked pretty good though, you could only see the sag from the top landing.


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## Greg Di (Mar 12, 2005)

If you can take off the treads, cut the skirt out of 1x12 and make the riser cuts carefully. You can fudge the tread cuts a little since when you reinstall them, the will cover the rough cut on the skirt. You will have to cut the treads to length to fit inside your new skirt, but end result is very nice.


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## Greg Di (Mar 12, 2005)

fvmerl said:


> I looked at removing the treads and cutting them but they are glued and I don't want to mess with trying to get them off.


Sorry I just saw that tidbit. Even if they are glued down, it might be worth cutting them out and installing new ones provided the stringers are up to the challenge.


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