https://imgur.com/L0i74s8

https://imgur.com/QI8nHYL

The top tread looks different and does not line up with the flooring, it looks like there had been something glued on top of it. The rest of the treads do creak a bit but are stable and I honestly like the mild creakiness of the stairs.

I wonder if adding something like this to the water would help

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HRHEOJC

Its supposed to be plant-safe

In fact a 100 year old house likely has some choice lumber in its stair treads. A century ago we were still tearing through old growth forests and the lumber in old houses is tighter grained than anything you even CAN buy today. There’s a reason why recovered lumber is so prized, and it’s not because it looks all “old timey.”

If OP does replace all the treads, I hope the old ones go to a woodworker somewhere. Shit I’d be happy to have them.

Floor Refinisher here that has experience refinishing stairs.

Id say assess all of the other treads for signs of instability like splits or creeks. If nothing stands out then you I would say those steps are in good shape.

From what I can tell from the pictures you showed, it seems like you have either quarter or rift sawn oak treads. If you could upload a top view picture of the grain I could confirm whether it is. If it is, that combined with the potential age of the steps makes those treads priceless. Of all the floors I’ve seen out there, I think there really is no prettier grain than quarter sawn oak. I would absolutely preserve them if you can.

As some one who has refinished many staircases, I will tell you that those stairs are an excellent candidate for refinishing, and if you’re looking to DIY the job, that stair case is about as easy as it gets for stairs (floating railing and no wall strings makes it very easy to sand the treads with the edger and makes it much easier to throughly scrape the bullnoses.)

I would consider stripping the varnish on the risers and painting them white and perhaps add a wall stringer for a more finished look. That combined with a natural finish on the treads and a repainted railing and you have a gorgeous and timeless staircase

For the price and the effort, do them all Same as the car dash, if you take the effort to take it off, for a burnt out light, just replace them all. The others are just as old and will have wear and tear too.

https://imgur.com/a/Hx7Sf90

That except walls are just frames and doors are just doorways.

You can also use hydrogen peroxide regularly

Good idea, if maintaining this becomes too tedious I'll likely go that route.

Thanks for sharing, I didn't know that! I'll definitely look into using charcoal.

I was walking down the stairs and it just snapped off

Do you have a version of the basement drawing that is just the current state?

How did it break?

Being that close to light sources, you're going to eventually get algae in those regardless of how clean you try to keep them. You could try to hide it by frosting the glass to match the lamp covers though.

Drywall is $20 for a 4x8 sheet. Only way you can remove tile without damaging the drywall is if they were installed poorly. But you won’t be that lucky.

Very nice. I'm all for anything that brings more green indoors.

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On the topic of the water looking weird after a while, I've heard that people use charcoal in the bottom of planters to limit bacterial growth. I don't know if it would work in a system like this, but it could be with looking into.

Thanks!

Thank you, that's very kind! I agree, and we share that concern. To make maintaining this as easy as possible, I bought two extra vases so I can swap them out when the water starts looking murky, toss the previous ones in the dishwasher, and have them on standby.

Thanks for pics. No, I wouldn't replace the remaining ones; they appear to be in good shape. Even this one might be repairable with gluing it back together if your glue game is good. It's just the nosing broke off along the grain.

But, it also looks like it's easy enough to get the old tread off and replace it with a new one of the same thickness. If the thickness isn't the same, then it will be a forever trip hazard.

There is absolutely no reason to replace treads because of age, wood doesn’t change significantly just because of age. The way the wood has been cut (ie grain direction) is likely the cause of the failure.

However I would carefully inspect the complete staircase to ensure that it is sound, I would fix any treads or risers that show movement.

Remember new does not equal good.

Not sure how that water is gonna look in a month, but that's a problem for another day.

I like the design, classic but new at the same time. Well done!

Cut the whole thing out. Then you’ll have straight lines when you go to replace the sheet rock. It’s also faster.

And this is why I don’t like sleeping in my sister’s basement bedroom. It also feels claustrophobic

Added pics