Done assembling treads

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It's about Finish
Posted Oct 20, 10:54 PM

We’ve been making steady progress on the stairs- today, we finally finished the landing and got the last tread up (which we had to finish the landing before we could do). The post in the picture has a big chunk let out of it, as does the tread; fits exceptionally well, I think! It’s not fastened at this point- my wife is going to stain and varnish all the oak before we fasten the newel posts and start putting up the railing. The small circles drilled along the edge are for the iron ballisturs.

All treads complete!

We used finish screws, set into the treads with a 1/4” fornster bit. Then used a 1/4” plug cutter to cut oak plugs to fill it. Turned out extremely well- most of the screws blend in perfectly, and the rest will likely disappear once stained.

Can you see all 3 screws in this photo?

I got the first bit of railing cut, drilled, and dry-assembled, too!

First piece of railing, dry-assembled.

And, in case anyone is wondering exactly how you connect pieces of railing in an over-the-post design so the connections are absolutely invisible, it’s a real pain in the ass. Come final assembly, it will be glued with wood glue, final adjustments made, and the bolts tightened. The fancy fittings were made in china and shipped over; the railings were milled down the street from me. They’re very close, but will need some sanding to match perfectly…

Rail bolts