Hello DIY Anons,I just replaced my first floor with vinyl planks, and now it's time to work on the stairs. They are carpeted, and I planned to replace them with the same vinyl planks as well.I know the basic procedure (remove plank's attached cork underlayment, use construction adhesive, add roundover/bullnose profile that matches, etc.), but I ran into an issue with the very first step.Removing the carpet shows how they attached the stair railing to the first step. There are similar attachment points at the top of the stairs, and at the beginning/end of another railing.The base plate they used is pretty thick, and the 4 bolts they used stick out a fair bit more. In the attached pic, you can see they are both thicker than the vinyl I plan to use.What is the best course of action? If I just cut the vinyl to fit around the rectangle base, it would look weird. How would I cover it up?The first thing I thought of was adding osb around the railing base to raise the stair height so that the plank would lay flat over it, but it would raise the entire step almost a quarter inch and all the steps have to be a consistent size.My second idea was using thick wooden treads that could cover up the step by routing the underside area of the tread around the base, but that wouldn't work since there's a landing above that would need to be raised by the same thickness and it over complicates things with trying to color match the vinyl with staining (wasted 2 weekends on this)Uninstalling the railing and attaching them over the vinyl is also not an option. I feel like a hit a brick wall, so any help/ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated.
I would never have the hand rail attached to the tread.
>>2946205You could always chisel out a recess the thickness of the plate into the stair tread and then countersink the holes for a countersunk screw to hold them in place. Then you could put your vinyl plank all the way over the top of them up to the square tube. That railing seems kinda janky to be honest though. Why is it attached like that? Why isn't it attached to the side of the stairs instead?
>>2946219Not sure, I think the railing is fully custom. However, it's really stable. Pic related is how it is attached, with #1 being the railing in question from the original post. Being attached to the stairs and wall in 4 places total makes it really sturdy.Wouldn't your method involve making the stair thicker? if that's the case, I would have to make every step thicker which would make everything more complicated. Although I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.
>>2946227>Wouldn't your method involve making the stair thicker? if that's the case, I would have to make every step thicker which would make everything more complicated. Although I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.No I was saying chisel out the area underneath where the railing is bolted on now and sink the entire railing down 1/4" or so into the stair tread. Now that you have shown how it is mounted with your second picture you would have to do the same at position 2 and then lower 3 and 4 slightly as well. Which might not be too bad, or might not be worth it depending on your skill level. Then if you can get the plates flush with the top of the treads, you can use a countersink bit on a drill to countersink those mounting holes and get something with a countersunk head so it will sit flush with the top of that plate. At that point you can just put your vinyl plank flooring right over it as it should all be at the same level as your original tread plate.
Buy some 1/4" sheet and fur up to the base plates. Otherwise you'll need to mortise the plates into the subfloor with a router.
Buy some thin plywood and use it as a spacer under the flooring. Then carve out the back of the flooring for the bolt heads. Do this on every step, not just the ones with the posts, so that the riser height is maintained.
>>2946233Chiseling and sinking the stair tread on all 4 attachment points would increase the scope of work too much, I guess specifically for me. I appreciate the suggestion though.>>2946345>>2946276I know it sounds stupid but I hadn't thought of that.My idea was to use plywood or osb that was thick enough to clear both the base AND bolts, but that would be adding almost half an inch to each tread (6/16" or 7/16"ths to be exact but they don't sell that thickness of plywood).Just using a 1/4th sheet to clear the base and routing out the bolt heads on the underside of the vinyl plank would be way easier.Pic related is how thick a plank is when resting on the metal base itself right against the bolts, so there should be enough room to make clearance for them. Plus the construction adhesive between the vinyl and plywood will allow for more wiggle room.Probably won't be able to get to this project until the end of they year as there's more pending renovations to be done, but this crosses one thing off my mind for the future. Thanks Anons.
