Top Of Stairs, Two Lips? Stair Nose Molding?

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FeVerDoG

New Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Messages
4
Location
Upstate NY
Hello All,
So here is my issue, i have 3/4" red oak that i need to finish at the top of the stairs. I can lay a piece horizontally to pick up some of the the 6-7" and then use stair nose moding to the end, but how do i finish the end with out having Two Lips on the end, yes I know, lol. I would rather not cut away the existing stair top but do not see another way. I also though of ripping the inside of the stair nose molding so that only 1/2" or so would cover the existing stair but then the top stair would protrude the 1/2" more, that would also mean i would need a double 3/4" stair nose molding or 1.5" to hide the existing stair. I am also putting in hardwoods upstairs and will run into this again on the main staircase and in the master closet. Any Ideas?
Thank You, Rob
 

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What is the height differences between the top stair nose and top of the new hardwood?

Why didn't you continue the wood to meet the nosing in the first place?

Any solutions I'm thinking of really depend on those elevations.

Two most simple come to mind would be; 1. turn the hardwood floor direction and fill the void to the nosing--------If the elevations are compatible. 2. pull the top nosing/tread off and install new full tread scribe fit into door frame and stringer to meet new hardwood under the door. Any height difference between the new tread and hardwood could be transitioned with a molding.

https://hardwood-lumber.com/red-oak...MIn5X4s5zu9gIVyB6tBh35tAUIEAQYAyABEgKjgvD_BwE
https://www.thespruce.com/guide-to-basic-floor-transition-strips-1821708
 
The top of the stairs is level with the underlayment, it's 3/4" straight across. These floors were already installed, yes i will pick up the gap with a horizontal piece of 3/4" and then the stair nosing, but that wraps back to my questions.
 
I'd want to shave that nose off flush to the riser then scribe fit a new tread overtop to meet the hardwood under the door. Then the challenge would be to match that wood, stain and finish to the existing stairs including any modifications (putty?) needed to make the stringers and riser blend in. If a full tread width doesn't make it to the flooring hardwood exactly under that door then you'd have to scab in a filler piece or make a threshold/ custom seam binder. There's really a lot of choices that might appeal to each of us professional and amateurs differently. If there's an end user I try to get them involved in the decision so they HAVE to like whatever they choose.

For some reason I thought the hardwood was newly installed/stained/finished and without knowing the elevations it didn't make sense to stop where shown.
 
Cutting the existing nose off will leave me with a gap from the step on the left and right stair stringers, could patch with filler, patch the gap on the riser flush, then just install a new tread right back to the existing hardwood, all 3/4" thick, that would work, but what about here at the top of the master stairs? and here is the master closet?

Then what's the purpose of the stair nosing?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Zamma-U...JjAR8EAAYAiAAEgKRefD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#overlay
I have seen that transitions guide a while back as well.

No worries matching, have same stain & poly, and its dark enough in some spots to hide putty and patches.

Lol i am the end user on this one, i like clean lines, no transitions if possible. I removed old T molding, and spliced in new pieces from hardwood to ceramic tile, flushed, look nice.
 

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Cut the existing stair nose flush with the riser then install flooring sideways as Incognito said. When you get to the stair nose you will fabricate one. Determine where the point of overhang is on your header boards and glue a piece of wood flooring to the underside of the overhanging header board. Then you use a 3/4” round over bit to shape the profile of the stair nose. That should give you 3/4” of overhang and 3/4” of covering up the old stair nose that you cut off.

076E4D43-636D-4244-A302-2F36EF1A1195.jpeg
 
All good ideas.

Biggest problem I see here is adding the 3/4” to the elevation of the upper areas in all the pictures. When all those staircase were built/installed the top bullnose should have ended 3/4” higher than the subfloor, not flush, to allow for any finished floor? Here in New York, if a building inspector is involved, all the steps have to be exactly the same elevation or you’re not getting a C.O.. Tripping hazard... Seems silly I know but I’ve run into that problem more than once.

That’s possibly why they ended the floor in the first picture where they did.
 
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