Stair Flooring near you

The code text is short and worth knowing before you shop. Dimensions are measured exclusive of carpets, rugs or runners, so a carpeted stair is measured to the wood underneath. The riser height shall be not more than 7 3/4 inches, measured vertically between the leading edges of adjacent treads, and the greatest riser height within any flight shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch. Risers must be vertical or sloped from the underside of the nosing of the tread above at not more than 30 degrees from vertical, and at open risers more than 30 inches above the floor below, the opening must not allow a 4-inch-diameter sphere to pass.

Treads are governed the same way. The tread depth shall be not less than 10 inches, measured horizontally between the vertical planes of the foremost projection of adjacent treads, and the greatest tread depth within any flight shall not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch. Winder treads, the wedge-shaped ones at a turn, have their own rule: not less than 10 inches at the walkline and not less than 6 inches at any point in the clear width.

Nosings matter more than people expect in a reflooring job, because a retread cap changes them. The radius of curvature at the nosing must not be greater than 9/16 inch, or a bevel not greater than 1/2 inch, and a nosing projection of not less than 3/4 inch and not more than 1 1/4 inches is required on stairways. The greatest nosing projection must not exceed the smallest by more than 3/8 inch within a stairway. There is one exception worth knowing: a nosing projection is not required where the tread depth is not less than 11 inches.

Here is the failure mode, and it is almost universal. If you add a 3/4 inch tread cap to every step in a flight, every riser between the steps stays the same, because both the top and the bottom of each riser moved up by the same amount. The exception is the bottom riser, which now measures 3/4 inch taller, because the floor it starts from did not move. Do the same at the top, where a new floor on the landing is thicker than what was there, and the top riser changes too.

Three-quarters of an inch is twice the 3/8 inch uniformity tolerance the code allows, so a flight that was compliant before the job is not compliant after it. Where the existing risers were already close to the 7 3/4 inch maximum, the new bottom riser can also exceed the maximum outright.

A competent stair contractor will raise this in the first conversation and will have answers: use a thinner cap or a full tread replacement that matches the original thickness, build up the floor at the bottom of the flight to match, rebuild the bottom step, or extend the new flooring across the landing and the first tread to keep the relationship intact. What you do not want is to find out at the final inspection, or at a real estate inspection years later.

There are several ways to change a staircase and they differ mainly in how much thickness they add and how much of the original structure survives.

A reflooring job regularly disturbs the handrail, and putting it back where it was is not automatically correct. The code requires handrails on at least one side of each continuous run of treads or flight with four or more risers, and sets handrail height, measured vertically from the sloped plane adjoining the tread nosing, at not less than 34 inches and not more than 38 inches. Because a tread cap raises that sloped plane, a handrail that measured 35 inches before the job measures less afterwards.

Continuity and grip are also specified. Handrails must be continuous for the full length of the flight, from a point directly above the top riser to a point directly above the lowest riser, with the ends returned or terminating in newel posts or safety terminals, and a handrail adjacent to a wall must have a space of not less than 1 1/2 inches between the wall and the rail. For grip, a circular handrail must have an outside diameter of at least 1 1/4 inches and not more than 2 inches, and a non-circular Type I rail must have a perimeter of at least 4 inches and not more than 6 1/4 inches with a maximum cross-sectional dimension of 2 1/4 inches.

Two other dimensions constrain the space itself. Stairways must be not less than 36 inches in clear width above the handrail height, with the clear width at and below handrail height not less than 31 1/2 inches where a handrail is on one side and 27 inches where handrails are on both sides, and handrails must not project more than 4 1/2 inches on either side. Headroom must be not less than 6 feet 8 inches, measured vertically from the sloped plane adjoining the tread nosings. A thick new floor at the top of a flight reduces headroom at the bottom of the flight above it, which is a real consideration in a house with a low basement ceiling.

Stairs in older American houses are usually painted, and paint is what brings the federal lead rule into a flooring job. EPA states that anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities and preschools built before 1978 must be certified, with employees either certified renovators or trained on the job by a certified renovator. Sanding painted risers, prying off a painted skirt board or cutting into painted stair trim is exactly the kind of work the rule was written for.

The small-job exemption does not help much on a staircase. EPA excludes minor repair and maintenance disturbing six square feet or less of paint per room inside, but says demolition of painted surfaces is always covered regardless of square footage, that work in the same room within 30 days counts as one job, and that the exemption is lost entirely if a prohibited practice is used, including high-speed sanding or grinding machines without a shroud or containment system and a HEPA vacuum attachment.

So if the house predates 1978, the two questions to ask any stair contractor are whether the firm holds EPA lead-safe certification and how the dust will be contained on an open stairwell, which is one of the hardest spaces in a house to isolate. EPA publishes a searchable database of lead-safe certified firms and runs the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD for questions.

Stairs are priced per step for good reason: every one is a small, fitted carpentry job and none of them can be cut from a template. What moves an American quote is the number of risers, whether the flight is straight or has winders or a landing, whether it is open on one side or closed between two walls, whether treads are capped or fully replaced, the species and finish, what has to be removed first and how much staple and adhesive cleanup that leaves, whether the geometry work at the top and bottom risers is included, whether handrails and balusters are in scope, and whether the house predates 1978 and needs a lead-safe certified firm with containment on an open stairwell. Ask for the per-step price and what the bottom riser plan is.

LokalMatch is where you begin. You describe the staircase once: how many steps, straight or turning, open or between walls, what is on it now, what you want instead, and the age of the house. Carpenters and flooring contractors serving your area receive the request and the interested ones contact you directly. Pros pay for the requests they receive and the service is free to homeowners. LokalMatch does not build or refinish stairs, does not set prices, and does not vet, rank or recommend any contractor, so confirming licensing where your city requires it, checking insurance and reading the written scope, including how the riser heights will be kept within tolerance, stays with you.