Worn stair treads

[RBailey]

Sorry, but I'd want to keep Gripfill well away from a beautiful old staircase like that!

I did think about that but it will come off, albeit with a bit of effort, and it needed something to give support where the nose had worn away.


The stairs did need something serious doing to them as the had already claimed a victim.
The last lady of the family who owner the house from 1844 to 1987 unfortunately died as a result of a fall down them.
Hence the treads got sorted / leveled and I fitted the pigs ear.

 

[a twig]

100% safe, and easily removable in the future should you want to return to the original building fabric

 

[Mrs McG]

Hahaha don’t tempt me! Although my stairs are narrower so I’d be stuck forever gliding up and down but unable to actually get off

 

[Feltwell]

100% safe

Ohh I don't know, I'm sure with a bit of fiddling you could increase the motor speed and fire granny at great speed up the stairs!

My (getting elderly) parents have both got those lift-assist armchairs, in extra small and extra large respectively. I keep threatening to "rewire Mum's electric chair" to put 240v to the motor rather than 24v. We even discussed dressing her in a velcro onesie, then we could fire her out of the chair at a velcro dartboard on the wall opposite!

What she told me to do in reply is unrepeatable - shocking language from these old folks!

 

[Craig89]

I’m very pro heritage and preservation, but a nasty fall can result in a lot more than a minor inconvenience, see Laura Ashley for details…… Ouija board required of course.

I understand that death by brain haemorrhage from a fall down the stairs is a little more than a minor inconvenience. What I mean by minor inconvenience is taking the extra time and care required to ascend and descend the staircase safely on account of the risks created due to their age/design

 

[88v8]

Having slipped down the stairs for the second time since moving in 6 weeks ago I’m wondering whether I just need to become more familiar with using them or if they need attention.

What gorgeous stairs. Money could not buy stairs like that, and you got them free, along with the house !

In our cottage we have elm stairs, they are horribly slippery and I was going to carpet them but then I thought... well all the previous owners have managed, so why can't I... and the fact is that I can, to the extent that now I can go down them in the dark in my socks. The trick is to place one's feet well to the back of the tread.

It's too easy to sanitise an old house, make it all 'safe'. But if that's what you wanted, you'd have bought a Barratt box... My only tip, don't polish them, and don't let visitors walk around in their socks.

 

[Drayton]

They are gorgeous - but as already mentioned in this thread stairs can and do kill. You can go down safely 1000s of times, but a moment's distraction, someone calling, a phone ringing, maybe, or being not quite awake, feeling ill (or maybeeven one extra drink) is all it takes to get it wrong.

My reaction is skewed by having fallen on decently wide stairs I knew really well - I was slightly late for an appointment, had dashed up to get a document I needed to take and was glancing at it as I came down. I was able to get down from the landing I'd fallen onto and summon help; the only damage was a twisted ankle and a small bone broken. But the top of my head had just brushed the skirting board, so another couple of inches...

I suspect the OP won't find it too difficult to decide whether it is an acceptable risk, as many of you have, or a nagging worry.

I'd certainly do no more than one of the repairs suggested.

 

[Cubist]

Having slipped down the stairs for the second time since moving in 6 weeks ago I’m wondering whether I just need to become more familiar with using them or if they need attention. The photos below give a good idea of where the treads are wearing out and I’d be grateful for views, the least worn treads are 8.5” deep but in some areas that’s worn down or broken off to under 8”.

View attachment 10041

View attachment 10042

It's becoming usual for me to come back to a thread where I've seen something that has provoked an unconscious line of puzzlement. In this case it's the design of the stringers that has been niggling me as it would appear from the photos that the stair treads are fitted 'between the stringers' rather than resting on cutouts 'in' the them. The latter method being the common approach for stair construction. I have a suspicion that, at some point the old stringers failed and that new timbers became essential. Though why whoever did the work went to the bother of properly shaping the new stringers only to add blocks/brackets below to carry the treads and risers (the alternative method of stair construction) escapes me.

Anyone seen this approach before?

 

[Mrs McG]

I have absolutely no idea what you’ve just said, and that’s even after googling the term ‘what are stair stringers’ … I ought to blush at my ignorance but frankly I’m too keen to take advantage of this forum’s collective knowledge to pretend I know more than I do!

I’ve certainly noticed the odd ‘triangles’ of what looks like filler each side of every step, and it made me wonder whether originally the steps were each held in place by a triangular piece of wood. The cottage being around 450 years old and at some point riddled with woodworm it’s possible the stairs were affected and that quadrant beading replaced the triangles?

 

[Feltwell]

They're not "triangles" - it's one long bit of wood - that is the Stringer, it supports the tread and the risers.

If one of your walls was missing and you looked at your staircase from the side it would look like this:-

 

[Mrs McG]

Here’s the compromise I settled on, at least temporarily. The stairs have lost some of their character which is a shame but I felt this was acceptable if it makes them a lot more practical. Time will tell!

 

[Feltwell]

Nothing wrong with that, easy to do and easily reversible!