Split step on staircase

[markus250]

Hi all,

I have an old house and the stairs would creak a little (nothing unusual there), however, i've recently removed the carpets and one of the steps has a crack in the wood running from side to side of the step. It flexes a little when walking on it. Am i right in assuming the step cannot be removed as its joined to the sides of the staircase or can it be knocked off and replaced? I don't have access to underneath the stairs as its been boarded off and plastered in the understairs cupboard.

The step thats split is in about the right position where a child would jump to from the top step so this was probably the cause as the previous home owners had several chldren.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Mark

 

[gregers]

as you cannot gain access to the underside then i think you are going to struggle to do a proper repair.
could you not cut the plaster board underneath where the step is and glue a cleat(piece of board)to the under side of the step?.

in defo no,then maybe you could squeeze some grip fil into the split?.

 

[markus250]

Thanks for the reply

The rest of the house needs replastering and thats being done room by room so i suppose knocking another hole in some plaster won't hurt! lol!!

As i've never done this before, what is the best way to repair the step from underneath? A piece of timber cut to size and screwed up to the cracked step? Or can i remove and replace the step with access from under the stairs?!

Many thanks,
Mark

 

[gregers]

you should find some glue blocks underneath which may hinder the repair?
but if it was mine i would cut some ply to fit under,glue it in and screw it from above into the ply.

 

[tony1851]

Why bother even trying to repair the crack. We have an old (1920s) stair which has had a tread-crack right across for years with no problem. You would not be able to replace it anyway.