How can I properly finish the gap between the stairs and baseboard when installing new flooring to ensure a seamless transition?
Asked by Dóriclo Mendes 
1 month ago
Last Updated: October 14, 2024
We took the carpet off our stairs to put in new flooring, and we noticed there’s a big gap where the top of the stairs meets the baseboard of the railing.
The weird thing is, the gap isn’t the same size all the way down – it’s 1 1/4″ at the top and only 3/4″ at the bottom. It’s almost like the stairs were put in at a bit of an angle.
We never noticed it before because it was covered by carpet. Now we’re not sure how to make it look nice with the new hard floors.
I’m not totally sure about the terms I used, so I’ve included some photos. Any suggestions would be really helpful!
If you’re talking about the gap between the tread and riser to the stringer, it shouldn’t be a problem because when you cover them, they will be trimmed to fit. Each step and riser might vary slightly, custom-made to fit each location. The gaps will be hidden. Or are you inquiring about something else?
I read your post again. You’re referring to the difference in protrusion between the stringer and the base of the railing. Not much you can do about that at this point.
1. You could trim the base of the rail to be in line with the stringer, but since it’s narrow, it might end up looking pretty noticeable.
2. You could try to make the stringer thicker with wood and use filler to blend it in – but that sounds like it would take a lot of time to do properly.
3. Just leave it. That’s probably what I would do, considering everything.
4. Extend the black railing base to hang over the stringer. This way, the imperfection would be on the bottom side. In my opinion, this would be the cleanest and simplest solution to keep everything looking even. It appears to be black stained pine wood, so adding a 1.5″ piece to the edge with glue and brad nails should be doable
That’s a tricky one. 🤔
So, the part you’re talking about is the skirt board. The “stringer” is what makes the steps.
There’s not a whole lot you can do without it looking like a quick fix. Is the other side of that black railing board straight when you look at it from the other set of steps? If it is, you could try adjusting the skirt board at the bottom to make it more even. You might need to take out the steps first.
If it’s crooked on both sides of the railing, you could attempt moving the railing board to have it sit evenly on both sides.
Best of luck
I can totally relate, we had the same problem. The thing with carpeted stairs is that they never seem to be built square since the carpet covers up any imperfections. So, I ended up tearing everything out down to the framing, squared it up, and then covered it with oak.
I don’t see a stringer in any of these pictures. Could you please clarify? Are you referring to the skirt board? Your pictures are a bit chaotic, making it difficult to understand your request.
Hey everyone! With the help of these comments and another group, I believe we have found what we were looking for!