Can I Replace Existing Stair Treads With Different Materials?
You can replace any stair tread with a
different material that has the same structural properties or
equivalent.
For example, a three-quarter inch tread made from oriented strand board
could easily be replaced by a three-quarter inch tread made out of
plywood, as long as it was structurally rated for that type of use.
In the picture above, the stair builder added an
additional piece of half-inch OSB on top of the entire stairway, with
the hopes of providing a little more strength.
However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the same materials used,
during the original construction, if the stairway remained structurally
sound, after replacing the stair treads.
For example, you could replace three-quarter inch plywood with
three-quarter inch plywood, but it wouldn't be a good idea to replace
three-quarter inch thick plywood, with half-inch thick plywood.
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