I have a ~100 year old stairway that has a couple treads cracked down the middle. One of them has a little give to it when stepping on it. They would be difficult to replace entirely, and I am worried brining in a professional (who would be forced to bring our stairs up to code) would cost a fortune.
Watching this video from This Old House gave me the idea to drill into the treads and insert dowels to add support, then seal the crack with epoxy. Would this work/be advisable? Any other suggestions?
Best Answer
My first thought is a dowel, glued in place. This will stiffen it some, but leave the crack. And epoxy can be on the brittle side.
So next, I thought, why not use a metal dowel? It adds more stiffness, more strength, but you still have the crack.
Another idea was a piece of all thread rod. Screw it right into the hole. This will give a great deal of holding power, preventing the crack from widening. But still you have that crack to fill.
Finally, I realized the perfect solution. McFeeleys sells it, in the form of a LONG screw, that is threaded only on the bottom half. Pre-drill a hole to get it started, and countersink it, so you can put a plug in afterwards to hide it completely. Then use the threads to draw the crack together as the screw tightens down. Add some glue (or epoxy if you prefer) into the crack before this operation, and the board will stay solid forever.
You can buy these screws in various lengths as needed.
https://www.mcfeelys.com/1-4-in-x-6-1-2-fastenmaster-headlok-screws-w-spider-drive-bit-qty-250.html