Fastening oak tread cladding to existing pine staircase

[Diydad]

Hi

 

I have an old pine staircase. I have bought and spent several weeks fitting new solid oak treads. I want to be able to do maintenence on these including replace if needed. I don't want nails or adhesive. I have full access to the underside of the pine stairs. What I want to do is install 8 stainless steel thread inserts into each underside oak tread. I will then use washers and double bolts from the underside of the pine treads to fasten them. I will probably also use a strong adhesive or epoxy on each thread insert to enhance the join. 

 

What are your thoughts on this as a method to join the oak clads to the pine stairs with options for future maintenance and replacement without needing to deal with nails and adhesive?

[Temp]

I think that will work. I would put a waxed bolt in the inserts to ensure the epoxy doesn't get into the threads before setting up. The 24h stuff is stronger than 5min.

 

Main issue I see is... By the time you need to replace one the oak will have changed colour so the new one may not match. 

[Bonner]

That’s a lot of work! Stairs move a lot so the fixings will tend to loosen (of course you can try threadlock). Even if everything remains tight, bolted joints allow lateral movement which will cause creaking. I have just installed a kit staircase, the manufacturer says everything must be glued. Any maintenance can be done in situ, if you need to replace a tread doesn’t matter if you ‘break’ it off.

[Diydad]

Shouldn't be too much work. I drill 8 holes on each pine tread. Place the new oak tread on it. Mark through the holes to get the exact position of the thread inserts. I plan on using those thin sheet rubber bands, the ones they use in the gym, as a film between the pine and oak treads to deal with any wood on wood movement if there is. I have already dealt with the pine stairs creeks years back and the issue never returned. My only concern with this, isn't the work, but the strength of the inserts as a unit.The double bolts should deal with loosening over time and I'll probably use some threadlock on the outer bolt

Edited September 17, 2023 by Diydad