Stair Repair

[Daniel H.]

Some of the steps in my stairwell are wearing away/broken in the front so they need to be replaced. What is the best way to go about this? Do I need to remove railings and take off the step and replace or is there some way to fix the steps without removing the railings. I was thinking about putting a new step on top of the existing one but that would make the distance for each step uneven which I believe is a no-no. Could I do this to every step? Anyone done this before?

[Randy F.]

If you go over the top of the existing treads, your bottom step will be too tall and your top step too short. Even if they are still within code for height, they may not be for uniformity. It sound like spindles terminate atop treads? If stairs will be covered and it diesnt matter cosmetically, you can cut offending tread out several inches away from spindles, glue and screw a 6" wide plywood scab under the joint, and install new tread. 3" of the scab will go under existing piece of tread and new tread will sit atop the other 3".