That stair nosing cut took me 3 hours longer than I planned

I had this weird angled landing last Wednesday where the nosing had to wrap around a corner and match up with a 45 degree wall. I figured it would be a 30 minute job but I ended up re-cutting that piece about 6 times before it finally sat right. The problem was the angle was actually 47 degrees not 45 and my miter saw was off by a hair. Has anyone else ran into a stair landing that just fought you the whole way?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesleybutler8d ago

Gotta push back a little here. A 47 degree angle on a mitre saw is basically a non-issue if you own a digital angle finder, they're like 30 bucks at Home Depot. The real kicker is when your saw is off, you check it with a square and realize the blade's been cutting at 45.3 degrees for the last year. That's amateur hour though, you should be squaring your saw every time you do trim, not just when something looks weird. The 45 degree wall thing is a common trap too, builders slap those in without checking if the drywall is even true. Next time just scribe the nosing to the wall with a compass and cut it freehand on the jigsaw, takes 10 minutes tops.

garcia.casey8d ago

So I totally get what you're saying about the landing fighting you, but honestly @wesleybutler is right about the digital angle finder being a lifesaver. I had a similar situation last month where my buddy handed me his "45 degree" stair nosing and it turned out his house was built in 1920 so NOTHING was square. I ended up cutting the piece 4 times before I just grabbed a scrap piece of 1x4 and traced the actual angle from the wall. My saw was also off by like half a degree and I didn't realize until I checked it with a framing square and felt like an idiot. The whole job took me 5 hours when it should have been an afternoon thing, and I swear the landing was just haunted or something. Sometimes you just gotta walk away and come back later cause that nosing is gonna win the fight if you don't.