Fixing Stair Treads...

[PoolGate]

The stairs coming down from our deck to our pool were damaged by a powerful power-washer many years ago. They have always been splinter prone. The nails are also constantly coming loose and painful to step on. When you are barefoot it is like walking through a mine-zone getting down them. We are planning on re-treading them at some point (requires removing the railing) but for the rest of this season we just want to "shore them up". I was thinking of getting some composite decking boards (thinnest ones they sell) and basically overlaying them on top of the existing steps. Just enough to make it possible to walk barefoot on them without risk. Has anyone done this? Is this a good idea?

Here is a pic of the stairs.

 

[mknauss]

Another idea is to use vinyl plank flooring. It is really thin. Only issue might be slick when wet?

 

[CJadamec]

For the nails. Pull out any loose nails and replace them with deck screws. The screws will hold the wood and help stop any more nails from backing out. Screws will not back out on their own.

For the splinters they make "deck over" paint. It's a very heavy paint that will seal cracks in the wood and basically glue potential splinters back into the wood. For any really rough spots a sanding disk on a 4.5" grinder will make easy work of smoothing down the wood and the paint should keep it smooth.

A couple things to try to get you through the year.

 

[PoolGate]

For the nails. Pull out any loose nails and replace them with deck screws. The screws will hold the wood and help stop any more nails from backing out. Screws will not back out on their own.

For the splinters they make "deck over" paint. It's a very heavy paint that will seal cracks in the wood and basically glue potential splinters back into the wood. For any really rough spots a sanding disk on a 4.5" grinder will make easy work of smoothing down the wood and the paint should keep it smooth.

A couple things to try to get you through the year.

These are all good ideas. I thought about that paint too but not sure I want to go that route as I think ultimately it will be easier to remove the temporary "permanent" lamination piece when the treads are replaced.

 

[CJadamec]

Even just a good quality oil based wood sealer/stain will reduce the amount of splinters. You should be staining and or sealing your deck regularly even if its PT wood just to keep it from splintering.

Anything added to the top of the tread will alter the rise of the first and last steps and the landing area creating a tripping hazard. I wouldn't top the steps with anything over 1/8" thick material. You would be amazed how much even a 1/2" difference in tread height can cause you to trip over the step. Since you have been using those stairs for years any sudden change in the steps is going to cause a lot of stumbles.