Before building stairs there are three questions you must ask to make sure you're getting a top-quality job. Meghan Carter of http://www.AsktheDecorator.com visited Adams Stair Works to find out what those three stair building questions are.

Video Transcription

Meghan: Stairs are one of the most important parts of your home. Typically, they are the first thing people will see when they walk through that door and without them you could not walk between floors. So you want to make sure you get a really good set of stairs and to do that there are three questions you have got to ask. And to learn those three questions I am here today to talk with Doug Adams the owner of Adams Stair Works. I am hitting the road searching for answers and finding great design. It is a quest for beauty function and of course inspiration. The first tell tale sign of a good stair builder is when they plan on putting in your staircase, what is never too early to start planning a staircase, installing it another matter. Question one: When do you plan on installing my staircase? Doug: Our stairs itself get installed after the place, after the home or the residence is dry walled, taped and primed. You want it installed during that process because if you install it prior to the moisture that gets in the home from the building and the dry walling from the painting will be absorbed into that staircase it will expand then when the moisture comes out of it, it will shrink and that will break some of the glued joints. Also in most cases, most homes are using oak these days. It is primarily about 40% of our product and a lot of these woods, when you drip things like drywall compound on the water it leaves black dots or tannic acid on the wood. And you cannot get that out, massive sanding, you are starting to change profiles. So you want to make sure you talk to your builder and say, “Hey, when my stairs are going to be installed?” If they suggest putting it in and lowering it in with a crane before the roof is on, maybe you should think twice because it is going to rain. Meghan: Oh yes Doug: I mean it is going to rain. Meghan: And basically you said that these are like furniture. Doug: These are furniture. Meghan: So you should treat your stairs like furniture in a sense that they are built the same way if they are mortise and tenon. Doug: Yes, people are spending upwards of 3% 4% of their house values sometimes more of their house value on staircases and do not move your dining room set in before the house is done. So make sure you put your stair at the appropriate time also. Meghan: Just because a stair builder put your stairs in at the right time, it does not mean they will be put in the right way. The method they use is very important. Question two, how do you plan on installing my stairs? Mortise and tenon, glue blocks, rail bolts and fulcrum—all ring a bell right? Doug: You should ask how your newel post are fastened to your stair, if they are fastened and bolted to the stair it is called overlay construction and that method is the weakest method. Meghan: Is that because the no post can shake after time? Doug: No post can shake because the stairs installed totally and it is bolted to the exterior of the structure. Whereas in mortise and tenon, the post is put in first and everything goes into it. You literally have to cutoff a part of the stair to take that apart that is the strongest method. And those are good questions to ask your builder, how is it built? How are the balusters installed? Are they nailed in or screwed in? Do they use glue blocks? Do they use rail bolts? Meghan: What is a rail bolt? Doug: The rail bolt is the part that puts the fitting together. Do they put cove on their stair and do they do fulcrum, this little piece of cold molding acts like a giant glue block and it helps fast keeps this nosing from breaking off. Some companies are saving money by only putting 12 inches of cove molding on the end of the stair where you see it. It should run all the way through. Meghan: What about the glue blocks on the inside, is that important? Doug: The glue blocks on the under side of the stair are very important, they are one of the most critical portions, that is—a little wedge block. It is covered with glue and it is put up in there and it really does the holding power of the stair. The na