Project Overview & Background
Homeowners usually assume there is a finished wooden stair hiding under the carpet. There almost never is. On a builder-grade stair the treads are construction-grade plywood or unfinished pine, never intended to be seen, and often notched and shimmed to get the rise consistent.
This Los Angeles home was exactly that. Rather than attempt to refinish what was there, we capped it — a solid oak tread cap over the existing structure, with new solid risers. Capping keeps the existing stair carcass and its established rise and run, which matters because rebuilding the carcass means re-permitting the stair geometry in most LA jurisdictions.
Structural Challenge:
The existing rise varied by nearly 3/8" between steps, which is within tolerance for a carpeted stair but visible on exposed hardwood. Each cap was individually thicknessed to bring the finished rise into a consistent dimension.
Engineered Solution:
Solid oak capping over the retained carcass, with each cap individually thicknessed to even out the inherited rise variation.
We thought we would find a nice wooden staircase under the carpet. We did not. They explained the options honestly instead of just quoting a refinish.
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