Thread: Timber for temporary stair treads?

Just as a suggestion, not sure of your circumstances, but if it were me I would do it once, and cover the treads with something sacrificial i.e (3mm ply) to protect the treads until such time as you do your floors. would definitely save you a few $'s in the long run.

Originally Posted by shedbound

Just as a suggestion, not sure of your circumstances, but if it were me I would do it once, and cover the treads with something sacrificial i.e (3mm ply) to protect the treads until such time as you do your floors. would definitely save you a few $'s in the long run.

Thanks yes it's not ideal however unfortunately we have a complicated set of circumstances ) I need to get the stairs in now so I can move some kids up there. The timber for the floor and stairs is coming from overseas in one bulk order at at the end of the year so have no option but to do something temporary.

MDF stair treads, thats all the project builders use for all carpeted stairs with a 70 x 35 (no knots) pine stiffener screwed underneath in the middle of each tread

I agree with RWBuild. If kids are involved, fill in the risers as well. 33mm MDF for treads and 16mm for risers. Groove the underside of treads for risers allowing a 25mm toe and you only need to screw bottom edge of riser onto back of each lower tread. Stringers can also be done in 33mm MDF and housed out for treads and risers from the back, so that components can be slipped in from the back when stringers are in position. Screw two screws through stringers into ends of each tread. By using no glue, stairs can be easily disassembled when required and sold on.

Thanks guys, the MDF could potentially work, might not look the best but would definitely be cheap!

To put some context around it we are doing a suspended stairs, one side of the treads will be fixed to the wall and the other side hung with steel rods.

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Still use mdf, 3 screws at an angle underneath through the tread into the stringer or temporary stringer and use your rods to hold the other end but DEFINITELY stiffen the mdf with a 70x35 underneath

Definitely some good advice here, given your situation RW is on the money

What about some 2nd hand oregon! A quick search on ebay shows that there is at least one lot of 50 x 140, 43 lengths in total. You probably don't need that many. You need to have it dressed, but it should work. You can also put 100 x 50 in parallel with this lot to get the width that you want.

Paddy

Care to expand on this drive-by tool pic in your previous post ?

magnetic drill

was hoping that Paddy might tell us stuff about make and model / likes and dislikes, etc

Originally Posted by rwbuild

Still use mdf, 3 screws at an angle underneath through the tread into the stringer or temporary stringer and use your rods to hold the other end but DEFINITELY stiffen the mdf with a 70x35 underneath

Thanks, seems reasonable just need to decide if we can live with bare MDF for that long, months have a tendency to turn into years with owner builder work

Originally Posted by justonething

What about some 2nd hand oregon! A quick search on ebay shows that there is at least one lot of 50 x 140, 43 lengths in total. You probably don't need that many. You need to have it dressed, but it should work. You can also put 100 x 50 in parallel with this lot to get the width that you want.

This would be ideal if I had someone who could dress the timber for me but I imagine this would be a pricey exercise in Sydney?

Originally Posted by paddyjoy

Thanks, seems reasonable just need to decide if we can live with bare MDF for that long, months have a tendency to turn into years with owner builder work



This would be ideal if I had someone who could dress the timber for me but I imagine this would be a pricey exercise in Sydney?

Ask this honorable forum if there is anybody nearby who would let you use their jointer and thicknesser for a small fee or something. You'll be surprised how much help you'll receive.

Originally Posted by ian

was hoping that Paddy might tell us stuff about make and model / likes and dislikes, etc

This is my first magnetic drill so I don't really have a benchmark however here are some thoughts on it.

Drill is made in China, purchased on ebay for $319 NEW Baumrag 240V Commercial Magnetic Drill Electric Electro MAG Base Chuck Power | eBay

Pros:
No issues with power, I was drilling 13mm holes in 18mm steel with a standard bit from bunnings and some cutting fluid
Comes with a chuck so you can put any drill bit in it
Magnet holds the drill in position very well, even upside down
reasonably quiet
Saved me a massive amount of time, well worth the money

Cons:
No speed adjust on drill
It seems like there is a little bit of play in the drilling mechanism, only a fraction of a mm but could be noticeable if doing precision work
It's reasonably heavy (18kg)


Maybe not tool specific but it's very hard to align the drill bit when working upside down with it, it's a two person job with one person holding the drill base in place while the other positions it. The motor mechanism will slide down under gravity so even the second person has a tough job. An inbuilt laser would be perfect for this tool.

There's a safety risk where the buttons for the magnetic base and drill start are close together so there is potential to press the wrong button when attempting to engage the magnet, especially when you have two people and 4 arms entangled around the drill