Should The Riser Be In Back Or On Top Of Tread - Assembly And Stair Squeaking Noise Problems 

Awesome instructional video. Answered all my questions. TY

Well done. Properly and professionally explained and entirely accurate.

I missed the answer. Riser behind tread or on top of tread?

Hi, is it ok to leave little gap between the tread and the top and bottom of the riser to eliminate the squeak if you have rough stairs.

Idealy there should be 4 stringers instead of 3 and use pl premium on the gaps. These alone would eliminate any creaking of flex on the treads.

Glue is your friend when it comes to wood on wood contact.

Thank you, this video was really helpful as to why our stair might be squeaking! On our stair the risers are on top of the treads, but we cannot get behind the stairs to fix them. Any suggestions?

I did service calls for awhile for a stair manufacturer, and over 90% of my calls was for squeaky stairs. Most were 36" to 42" out to out boxed both stairs. I convinced my company to make some changes, that made a huge difference. One problem is on carpeted stairs, I discovered that the carpet guys were knocking the risers loose from the tread with their kicker. Another problem was that the riser wedges were falling out because of the glue they were using. Also, most squeaks on boxed stairs, was coming from the ends of the risers, and I devised a way to run screws into the risers and stringers, at an angle without removing the carpet...I sure made a lot of homeowners happy back then.

all of the stairs I do are solid concrete sub base no way to fasten so i do tread first with adhesive

SO what is your preference??? Riser sitting on top of the tread???

Notched into the riser with glue only

Riser goes on tread. The riser supports the stair nose above all across the tread, making sagging less over time.