Hardwood Stair Treads and Refinishing in Murfreesboro, TN

We redo stairs in Murfreesboro homes by refinishing the wood that's already there, fitting new hardwood treads, or doing some of each. Whichever it is, the first thing we do is lift a corner of the carpet or look under the paint to see what we're working with.

Three ways to redo a staircase

A tread is the flat board your foot lands on. A riser is the upright board that closes the gap behind it. We'll tell you which of these jobs your stairs need once we've seen them.

• If the treads are already solid hardwood, we sand them back to bare wood and put on fresh stain and finish.
• If the steps under your carpet are rough lumber that was never meant to show, we cover them with new hardwood treads and risers cut to fit each step.
• Sometimes we do a bit of both. We keep the good treads, swap out a split or soft one, and stain the new board to blend in.

The nosing is the rounded lip at the front of each tread. We shape it so the step where the stairs meet your upstairs or downstairs floor looks like one piece, and we pick the stain with you against that floor. More on our sanding work is on the hardwood floor refinishing page, and if your stairs come up as part of a bigger job, see carpet to hardwood.

Giving the wood time to adjust

The Forest Products Laboratory says the moisture left in wood tends to even out with the humidity of the air around it. The U.S. Forest Service's Wood Handbook says to install wood at the moisture level it will have once it's in use, which cuts down on seasonal changes and helps avoid problems like buckling. That is why we drop the new treads off at your house and let them sit inside before we cut them.

The EPA's advice for homes is to keep indoor humidity below 60 percent if you can, and ideally between 30 and 50 percent. We'll ask you to run the air conditioning or heat as normal while the wood sits, so it adjusts to the house it will live in.

City rules that can touch a stair job

The City of Murfreesboro treats floor finishing as a normal maintenance repair that needs no permit, as long as the work doesn't break the code. The city also says you need a permit to build, alter, repair or move any building or part of one. So a refinish is one thing, and rebuilding the stair frame is another, and we check with the city on the second.

Handrails, the rails you hold on to as you go up and down, are part of the code too. The city says they are required wherever there are more than two steps, that taking them off is a code violation, and that they should not be removed because they keep people safe. We sand and stain around your rail and posts and put everything back the way it was.

If your home sits in the city's Historic Zoning District, the city's historic zoning list says interior changes of any kind do not need a Certificate of Appropriateness, the approval the historic board gives for changes. Replacing outside steps and stairs is different, and it needs an administrative approval. The city says to contact its Planning Department before you make any outside changes to a building in that district.

Leaving you a safer staircase

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says falls typically happen on floors, stairs, steps and from beds. Its advice is to keep stairs well-lit and clear of clutter. The National Institute on Aging adds that you should have light switches at both the top and bottom of the stairs, and handrails on both sides that are fastened tight.

When we finish, we'll tell you if a rail wobbles or if one side of the stairs has none. For a smooth new finish, the National Institute on Aging suggests no-slip strips, which you can buy at any hardware store, on wood floors. We can also go over a finish with a lower sheen, or a runner down the middle.

How we put a price on your stairs

We don't price stairs over the phone. We come out, count the steps and look at what's under the carpet, and then you get a written quote.

Our price for your stairs goes up or down with how many steps you have, and whether there's a landing or a turn in them. We also weigh up whether we refinish the treads you have or fit new ones, the wood and stain you choose, the carpet, pad and staples we pull up first, and any painted risers or spindles, the thin posts that hold up the handrail.

Your written quote should spell out each of these, name the stain and finish, and say when you can walk on the stairs again. Ask for the same from anyone else you get a price from.

Questions about hardwood stairs in Murfreesboro

Book a look at your staircase

Call us, or fill in the quote form with your ZIP code and roughly how many steps you have. We'll come out, show you wood and stain samples on your own stairs and give you a written quote. To see everything else we do, go to the Murfreesboro Hardwood Flooring home page.