How to Install Stair Treads & Risers: Pro Techniques 

😂😂😂 sorry… I just can’t!

I’ve always screws the risers to the treads from the back. I do basically the same with the skirts… just square cut (sometimes some minor adjustment) the risers/treads, leave the skirt board only tacked to the wall… then as your working your way up put some 3” screws through the stringer into the skirt, it will suck the skirt up nice and tight to your treads/risers… this way will always work if you have a cap on the skirt board anyways, if you don’t you might have some minor gaps between skirt and wall but painters can caulk that and then your skirt is nice and straight even if the wall isn’t perfect. Only time this doesn’t really work is if the wall is just in really bad shape…

Brilliant! I’ve encountered the same issue and this sounds like the best solution I’ve found yet.

@@syringconstruction9825 "Stair Wizard" looks like a well-designed and very robust tool. But I've never tried it, a little bulky-looking for my taste.

There is something about saying "I, I, I, ME, ME, My, My," all the time that doesn't sound right.

Thanks! I'm always on the lookout for better products.

@@InsiderCarpentry same here. You've definitely turned me on to a few items that I've purchased through your links! PS I fixed all the typos - including I spelled your name wrong. Downfall of typing on my phone😬

@alrightythen1533 I really like the detail in your post. I’m a homeowner about to convert a carpeted stair case to white oak treads and painted risers. Choosing the best adhesive possible is key to my situation. I’m bent on avoiding squeaks and, if possible to either have either… 1. no face-nails nails in the treads, or 2. really small ones (18g) or 3. almost invisible ones (23g pins). I spoke with Grex about use on treads It’s because I’m using only hard-wax oil (NO STAIN). There is much color variation compared to an evenly stained medium-to-dark stained tread and I’ve not found an easy way to color-match them easily. Putty comes in plenty of colors, but is something I’m not sold on yet. I hear many complaints about it…but maybe that is not definitive. Don’t know. Choosing the right adhesive has the potential to address a lot of my concerns so any add’l insights you could offer will be appreciated. Had you used F26 by Leech in the past before settling on PL over it? I know you are onto Bona 880 now and have heard promising things about their quantum product for use on treads without face nails. The one that comes in a “sausage tube”, not the thinner Quantum Flow for floors. I was going to use PL Premium based on how many folks on youtube recommend it. Then I kept running into a lot of local carpenters and builders highly recommended F26 adhesive by Leeech. Swearing by it, actually. The company has an outstanding tech support person who absolutely says F26 does not expand or swell and stays flexible indefinitely and that it is what doing the holding over time (decades) which prevents squeaks, not the nails. Will leave it there for now. Can add a little for if anyone is kind enough to reply to my post.

Then leave the riser high the depth of the dado? Slightly less, actaully. Thanks.

@@als1023 yes, that is the idea. In this case you would probably have to stop dado these, so you can't see the dado from the side.

Thanks Cousin Justin! Welcome back to you as well! I fee like it's been a while since I've see you chime in...

I definitely would if I had access to it. As a matter of fact, I can remember a job years ago where I did have access and was able to do that.

To bad I can’t rent a fes tool stair saw with guide

Never a drill but I have lost a couple of torpedo levels. LOL :(

A mitered return might defeat the purpose of this design. End grain with the same species as the tread is what I think the designer is after here. This will be a one off for the designer or architect…too often, professionals (architects and designers) and clients with no tool time under their belts will want to create a unique look even if it is unsound. No psychoanalysis here but it is often an ego thing. A stair case is not the place to experiment with design. Safety first. I have always believed that a painted rise is the safest stair. Visually, it calls out the tread when ascending the stair. But all that aside, I might have suggested slight chamfers at the end grain. Sort of a thru tenon furniture look. But not a mitered return to lose the end grain.

Yep. Try and make sure the riser is as straight as possible when you nail it on. Then push the tread into it with adhesive on the back of the tread.

You could also pre-assemble the riser and tread together on a flat table then install it as one unit

?

I think you just measure tread and risers from skirt to skirt. There should be enough hardwood that the overhang shouldn't cause too much of a problem unless you're talking 6" or more. Then you might want to put in extra stringers on the outsides and down your skirting. I call them wings but whatever hardwood doesn't bend easily.

a brad nail. it's 18 gauge.

18 Ga on the risers. 15 ga on the treads.

Try mixing wood glue and sawdust from the same material

I often have to fix their mistakes.

Screw it to tread before setting it in

That's one of the reasons that I prefer Sub-tread material not be installed.

I have a handful of sets of the stanley sweetheart chisels. They work well for me.

Hi great video, im wondering the same.

He's using a 18ga on the risers and a metabo 15ga on the treads. We use the same set up.

I believe that’s a 15 gauge nailer

15 guage angled nails

12 gauge

He actually says in the video he does not

@@nickbedard7854 thanks appreciate it

I have done it both ways. On this job I didn't.

He is the best in his field.

Timothy I’ve always thought the same thing… I’ve never worked for a contractor that would allow me to spend that much time on a stairway… And they definitely wouldn’t want to pay for the level of install Spencer is giving this.

@@HolyTerminator Says who ? He doesn’t even say that himself. That’s the “as seen on TV” effect in action right there. Most clients I had said I was the best. That’s BS. People have no way to compare. They just see what they see. They ignore what they don’t see exists.

They are hard to find. I'm blessed to have worked mostly for one great builder for several years.

@@InsiderCarpentry im a carpenter but i would love to be your apprentice.

Maybe Pinterest designers don’t believe in cove moldings.

Nose and cove, nose n cove. They got the nose. Now have a little cove with your nose, Pinterest peeps. Not many profiles as classical as a nose n cove.

In my case, I don't. Adhesive and nails due to not having access.

In my area it is not code, but in my opinion 10" should be code everywhere.

@@InsiderCarpentry Thk u Spencer I am looking at some plans that has two sets of stairs for Treads & Risers and I like the 1/4” detail however I seen the extra work that was? Now I am afraid to show the GC the video??? Ha!! LoL ! Thanks again for all your teaching for pros I am just really appreciative brother!

Oshlun if I want cheap, festool blades probably work best. The saw is under-powered so a thinner kerf is better.

He fastens the riser to the tread from behind the riser.

Because the line between the riser and tread is much more visible if you do it that way

Sure would, but then I'd have to buy it, store it, transport it, and make extra steps getting it out and putting it away.

Can't get as good a support unless you have an open back to the stair when screwing it in from the backside

Because "rough" framing is behind it,angle is from 89.5°-90.5 °. When you template you don't need to know,and if you do not you have a gap.

Jacob, Spencer did a previous video where he talks more in depth about the Collins stair gauge and all of its benefits. He was installing treads and risers in an enclosed stairway in a house.

Or they could have the confidence to start younger at tackling more challenging jobs because they actually have someone to guide them. And then they could in turn become more skilled than us, do better work for their clients, and create better lives for their families.

Personally, I just want to build my own for my own house.

That's why they're called disruptive technologies. Times have changed, knowledge cant be protected and siloed like pre internet. I've often reflected on the value of Spencer's vids that in times gone by they'd be sold on DVD (or VHS lol) for thousand's of dollars. Now they're either free or the cost of a youtube subscription but it's RU-vid that's making the most, not the creator but I'm sure Spencer does OK and deservedly so.

I was never much on people obscurantes Spencer is direct opposite

Cordless nailers have a hard time getting through hardwood

I'm having a terrible time with the M18 15 gauge. But in general I would never use a cordless nailer on 1" thick white oak. Way too dense. Air is much more reliable in this case.

@@InsiderCarpentry I kind of thought that, but wasn't sure.Funny thing though, when I built my house years ago, my Senco nailer had a hard time setting the nails on my clear maple window stools. Ended up setting them by hand which left a larger hole than I would have liked.

More holding power going into 5/4 edge than 3/4. If you put the riser onto the tread, with drywall underneath, it might be a trick to connect them the other way at edge with a fastener. Most shop stairs are done this way also. With shrinkage, any gap will not be seen when looking straight on. Typical shop stair has glue blocks as backers. In this video, they would be used underneath where the front of the tread meets the top of the rise.