Repairs: joinery, doors and kitchens

Repair work may cause the nosing to break off the stair (see Problem 6: Solution 1), and because only localised bracing is in place, further sagging usually occurs sooner or later. It should be easy to splice on the nosing by the glue-and-screw method for minor damage, but if the damage is worse, a more comprehensive repair (below) is a better bet.

Solution 1

It is fairly easy to carry out a proper repair, but it usually involves installing new glued ‘rubbed’ blocks under the tread and riser junction and either tightening up the existing wedges under the stairs or inserting new ones. Traditional staircase constructions were made to permit this.

New blocks can be put into place and fixed temporarily with screws or light nails while the glue sets. Use of a modern PVA glue would be appropriate, and the blocks need to be tight-fitting to prevent flexing at the joint; though the setting times are somewhat extended compared with a thermosetting material, such as traditional animal glue.

Note: The timber must be clean to ensure a good glue adhesion.

Solution 2

Alternatively, if they are obviously loose, then careful tightening of the wedges will effect more improvement than anything. If it looks as though the wedges may drop out, they can be glued into place and temporarily held with a masonry nail or similar.

Pre-repair checks:

• Have any of the lower treads or the newel post rotted away due to either ongoing or previous damp? Any collapse or settling in that area (e.g. due to softened timber) will inherently distort the stairs and, if it does not reach a state of equilibrium, the distortion will cause ongoing further deterioration to the construction. Again, folding wedges can be used to lift the construction from behind/beneath, although it might be necessary to plate around the bottom of the structure with some plywood to cosmetically mask the propping up carried out.
• Are the stairs bearing on a solid foundation? Although a little unusual, it is not unheard of for the stairs to be constructed off the floorboards (which may well 'miss' the joists at this point) or even off a brick sleeper wall at the ground floor – any or all of which may have sunk, decayed, deteriorated or never existed in the first place. All of this may be carefully hidden by a thick layer of carpet. In this instance, fabrication of some joists or bearings of suitably robust size timbers fixed across the sleeper walls - rather like nogging pieces – will be needed before carrying out any other works to repair the stairs.

COST SEQUENCE - Staircase nosing repairs

1. Assumes a 16-riser staircase.
2. Carefully split out nosings to existing staircase. Allow for creating a new true edge by setting timber circular saw to appropriate depth of tread and cut in through the main nosing. Ensure the cut is positioned so that it does not interrupt the housing joint for the riser slotted into the tread.
3. Glue and screw into place new nosing with bull-nosed moulding to leading edge. Set in 2-pack resin to provide adequate filling to the joint between old and new.
4. Allow for careful flushing off of the joint on completion to leave in clean and sounds condition and securely bonded.

Staircase nosing repairs - COST £185

Small works pricing

Since the original price estimating in 2008 the economic turmoil of the last few years has caused some disparities in pricing - if you are reviewing these figures in the London area they may look laughable - if you are located in Hull they might still look a bit expensive. Please treat them with caution and of course always consider obtaining more than one quote against which to test prices. Reference to the BCIS or a small works pricing book such as Spons or Laxton's will help assess costs and the hourly labour rates upon which they are based.