# Routing the end of a stair tread



## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

The wife and I are replacing stair treads, 12 to be exact. Five are open-ended. The house originally had carpet and a board was cut and routed to follow the contour of the carpet. Now we are putting oak treads down. The wife wants to extend the treads a bit past the sheetrock. Front is the usual bull nose. Cut, the end would be square. I have a half inch roundover bit that seems to fit. Need to remove the bearing for an exact fit. Since this will be end-grain, rout from front to back with a backer? I have a Kreg table. Suggestions? Would spring for a bit if needed- 1/4 shank.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

half round a length of long grain and install it as edge banding to the end.....


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I'm absolutely with Stick on that!


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

freehand rout the end w/ the bearing riding on the face of the tread...


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

If you feel adventurous, miter the exposed end corner and install the long grain end cap like this. Then return the back side to the wall, and trim out the exposed bottom with a small cove molding.

Herb


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Herb, looks very professional. Thanks. I would have some leftovers as the tread would need to be trimmed to length and width. Leftovers could be used to trim the tread. Would take some time but I like it. Will run it by the CEO and see what she says. We both get a vote but her vote is bigger than mine.
Edit- Herb, looked at the photo again and need to know how to miter just a small part of the tread. Seems there would be a short miter and a long cut across the tread.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

The wife and I looked at the photo. I see that there is carpet and the ends are routed/shaped pieces. I would need to figure out how to do it on a full length tread; oak, BTW. Thanks, again. Will play around with some scraps left over from the original treads. Never throw anything away! I use the scraps for backup on the drill press.


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## FreeTime (Dec 2, 2012)

I basically did the same job you're looking to do a few years ago. When it was carpeted (before the remodel), the skirts were behind the tread leaving half the riser for the tread to mount to. I changed it around to put the skirts on top of the tread (there is a technique online how to trace this pattern once the treads are mounted - it worked well). I used the same approach Herb used - miter a 1.5"+/- wide endcap to the tread and make sure it extends two or 3 inches past the back of the tread. Make sure the tread (without endcap) is long enough to extend to/slightly past the outside of the skirt on the open side. If you didn't have a skirt there already, you will probably want to put one there.

RE: Treads - I used 5/4 red oak. If I would do it again I would probably use white oak. You may want to consider piecing your treads to mix up the grain to minimize future warpage. I used 4+/- inch width sections, full or partial length, and put them together with glue ... I'm sure splines would work but I used a glue line bit. The width was set to make sure I had not left a small piece at the end of the tread ... I got three rows using that width


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Treads are from Lowe's so warping wouldn't be a problem. Dry as dust. Will look at what trim is available or what I can make on the router and see what I can conjure up. FreeTime, thanks.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Herb's picture sure shows how elegant the stairs could look. Very finished look. I suspect you might have an easier time cutting that profile on a narrower, more manageable smaller piece and applying it as a edge banding. A good glue job and it will last forever.


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

DRT, I agree. Simple way to do it.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Knothead47 said:


> Herb, looks very professional. Thanks. I would have some leftovers as the tread would need to be trimmed to length and width. Leftovers could be used to trim the tread. Would take some time but I like it. Will run it by the CEO and see what she says. We both get a vote but her vote is bigger than mine.
> Edit- Herb, looked at the photo again and need to know how to miter just a small part of the tread. Seems there would be a short miter and a long cut across the tread.


If I was doing it I would make sure the treads were 2" longer than the width of the stair.
Order an extra tread to cut the end caps from.
Mark a short 45 on the outboard end. and a new sq. end cut on the end of the tread. Cut on band saw.
Rip the bullnose off the extra tread, and whack off the width + allowance for kerf ,of the tread,cut a 45 on each end of the short rip. Make a short return for the miter on the inboard edge to return the bullnose back to the wall.
Fit the miter tight to the nose miter on the tread, glue and clamp it up.
When set, sand out any differences, and cut the tread to length to fit the stair width, and install.
I have done this with a hand saw before. It is more work and more patience and attention is required.
I hope this helps. Don't be afraid to try it.

You will have to recut the bull nose on the extra stair tread for the next rip with a router and a 1/4 round or stair bullnose bit.
Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Heere is a video of using a 1/4 round bit.






Here is a picture of a full round bullnose bit. A lot of stair tread material is not a FULL half round, it is more a flattened arc. 

https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_bull.html

https://truebullnose.com/

HErb


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

they make and sell the bull nose for adding to the front of stair treads as well as full width bull nosed stair treads. Buy some of the bull nose to make the stair tread ends instead of buying extra full stair treads. You will save money. I believe that the photo directly above this post is of some of this bull nose material, but this shows a piece that is even wider than what I have used.

Charley


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

How will you be handling the tread at the newel post? I also went through what you are and couldn't remove the newel post so I had to work the tread and return around it.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

JIMMIEM said:


> How will you be handling the tread at the newel post? I also went through what you are and couldn't remove the newel post so I had to work the tread and return around it.


remove the blocking from in the handrail's plough...
pull or cut the retainer pin from the top of the baluster... a beater chisel w/ a fast bevel works great to cut then...
heat the joints if they are glued to plasticize the glue...
pivot the baluster up hill and wiggle it free..
after a few baluster removals the process gets easier and easier...


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Again, thanks to all who responded! We were in Lowe's and looking at trim for the stairs. For some unknown reason, I looked down the aisle and spotted something that solved part of the problem. We bought one to take home and play around with to see how we could trim the side of the stairway. Here is the link- https://www.lowes.com/pd/RetroTread-1-875-in-x-14-75-in-Unfinished-Red-Oak-Wood-Stair-Nosing/1000445731


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