steps, going from carpet to wood

[oakback]

We have crappy, 30-year-old, commercial-grade carpet on our steps (3 flights' worth).

Is engineered wood better than solid wood for this application? I've read that engineered wood has better characteristics for reducing splitting and resisting changes in moisture (Florida, high humidity environment), but I've also been told that solid wood will work just fine.

Also thinking about ceramic tiles for the landings (1 on each flight, about 20 sq/ft me thinks). Good idea? Bad idea?

Is it better to buy pre-made stairs that I cut to fit, or is it worth the cost savings to get planks?

What about moulding/stringers? Necessary? Will the absence of stringers lead to scratched/chipped paint? Aside from aesthetics, are there other benefits to this added step?


My background/experience: I'm just a DIY'er, I like to save money working on my own home projects. I've done laminate flooring in our bedrooms, Spanish tile in one of our living areas, and vinyl stick-down tile in a bathroom, but have yet to deal with hardwood flooring (though I do have experience working in a cabinet shop; I plan to buy unfinished flooring and finish it myself).

Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks!

[pushkins]

You cannot lay laminate flooring on steps, you could for your landings BUT your setting yourself up for a tremendous amount of cost on bullnose trim etc...
You could add tile to the landings, problem again is going to be how much work you want to do and the cost/landing tiled. Your going to HAVE to install backerboard as the underlay for tile and again your going to need to finish at least the step entrance to each landing with either a bullnose or a transition strip.
You already have the stringers, stringers are what the treads are attached to.

If it were me (and you want a wood finish) I'd replace the treads with whatever species treads you desire (oak, poplar etc...) and do the same with the landing......sand , stain and clear coat polyurethane the entire project.
If you want to save some money use stain grade pine for all the above, stain to desired color and polyurethane the project.
Don't forget to lightly sand between poly. coats.

[oakback]

Thanks! I've talked with the person supplying the funds, and it looks like we'll go with full treads/risers (not planks) that I cut-to-fit, pre-finished, solid red oak.

By stringers, I mean skirt moulding. I've heard it called both things. Not the stringers that support the steps. I've talked with my father (a master millwork/moulding guy), and he explained to me how much of a PITA skirt moulding is, to do it right anyway. So I'll be going with cove moulding, and 1/4 round shoe moulding on the treads.

[oakback]

After doing the math, it looks like new 1" treads will increase the step height by 1/4" (over the current carpet thickness). Is this enough to be a problem?

[pushkins]

I don't think so as long as they are all uniform. Make sure you glue the treads down as well as nail/screw, absolutley nothing worse than a squeeky step

FYI code says max. step height is 8.25", no step can be more than 3/8" bigger than any other step, as well not smaller than 3/8" than any other step.

[buycountertop]

Re:

Thanks Pushkins for the helpful suggestion its really nice hope it will help many other people too...

I don't think so as long as they are all uniform. Make sure you glue the treads down as well as nail/screw, absolutley nothing worse than a squeeky step

FYI code says max. step height is 8.25", no step can be more than 3/8" bigger than any other step, as well not smaller than 3/8" than any other step.