Reinforced stair tread and methods for making same

A stair tread having a predetermined length, a front, a rear, a top and a bottom, wherein the top and the bottom are at least substantially planar and substantially parallel to each other, comprising:

• a nose portion extending the length of the stair tread, having a hardwood appearance at the top, and having an edge at the front that is shaped in cross-section from the top to the bottom to provide the nose to the stair tread;
• a base comprising a plurality of base strips having a first joint between each adjacent base strip, wherein the base extends the length of the tread and, together with the nose portion, extends from the front to the rear of the tread;
• and
• a separately formed cover strip comprising a plurality of laterally adhered portions that are transversely disposed in a direction from front to rear over the base and sized sufficiently to provide the appearance of hardwood on the top.

A stair tread having a predetermined length, a front, a rear, a top and a bottom, wherein the top and the bottom are at least substantially planar and substantially parallel to each other, comprising:

• a nose portion extending the length of the stair tread, having a hardwood appearance at the top, and having an edge at the front that is shaped in cross-section from the top to the bottom to provide the nose to the stair tread;
• a rearmost base strip at the rear of the stair tread and comprising a plurality of rear pieces, wherein an adhesive component is disposed over a sufficient surface area between each pair of adjacent rear pieces so as to permanently attach each pair of adjacent rear pieces end-to-end in a direction along the length of the tread;
• and
• a cover strip that covers the rearmost base strip sufficiently to provide the appearance of hardwood on the top.

A method of forming a stair tread having a predetermined length, which comprises:

• providing a plurality of first pieces having ends with sufficient surface area therebetween to facilitate permanent bonding of the first pieces;
• permanently joining the adjacent first pieces end-to-end with an adhesive component to form a rearmost portion extending the length of the stair tread;
• attaching a cover portion over a sufficient amount of the rearmost portion to provide a visible appearance of hardwood to the stair tread;
• and
• laterally attaching a nose portion comprising hardwood to the combined rearmost portion and cover portion so as to form a stair tread having the appearance of hardwood.

A method of forming a stair tread having a predetermined length, which comprises:

• providing a plurality of first pieces having ends with sufficient surface area therebetween to facilitate permanent bonding of the first pieces;
• permanently joining the adjacent first pieces end-to-end with an adhesive component to form a rearmost portion extending the length of the stair tread;
• attaching a cover portion over a sufficient amount of the rearmost portion to provide a visible appearance of hardwood to the stair tread;
• and
• laterally attaching a nose portion comprising hardwood to the combined rearmost portion and cover portion so as to form a stair tread having the appearance of hardwood;
• wherein the stair tread is formed by including a central base portion between the rearmost portion and the nose portion before covering both the rearmost and central portions with the cover portion, the central base portion being formed by attaching one or more second pieces in one or more strips that extend the length of the tread, and
• wherein the attaching of the rearmost portion and the central base portion includes planing abutting edges of the rearmost and central base portions to make them at least substantially planar, and then laterally adhering the substantially planar edges together with an adhesive component before attaching the cover portion, wherein the cover portion is configured and dimensioned to fully cover both the rearmost and central portions.