Stairs, Treads & Handrails

Yes, and it is one of our most requested jobs. We pull the carpet, tack strip, and staples, inspect the rough stringers, then install solid treads and risers finished to match your floors. A standard straight flight of 13 to 15 steps takes three to four days including finish cure.

The tread is the horizontal board your foot lands on; the riser is the vertical board between treads. On carpeted stairs both are usually rough construction lumber. Converting to hardwood means replacing or capping each with finish-grade material, plus a bullnose overhang at the front edge of every tread.

Yes — retrofit caps go over sound existing treads and cost less than full replacement. They add about 3/8 inch of height per step, which is fine on a full flight but needs checking at the top landing. Where stringers are damaged or out of level, full replacement is the better call.

Yes. Curved and radius rails are laminated from thin strips bent to the actual stair, shaped, and finished on site — not ordered from a catalog. It is slow work most flooring crews decline. Elder does it himself, and the curved balcony rails are what clients photograph when the job is done.

Refinishing existing hardwood stairs runs roughly $50 to $85 per step. Carpet-to-hardwood conversion with new treads and risers runs $150 to $300 per step depending on species and railing work. Curved rails and custom newels are quoted separately after Elder measures the actual stair.