holes in stairs -why?

stefejb

i have taken up the manky carpet from the stairs and painted them ... but ... there are holes on the upright bit of each step. why are they there - did the carpet need to "breathe" or something. Very annoying as i can't afford new carpet and they're about an inch and a half in diameter and not even straight enough to be a feature :mad: can I just sort of fill them or something or will the house fall down if I do? sorry to be dim - never seen bare stairs before

stef

ormus

perhaps they are knot holes:)

stefejb

oh no these have definitely been cut out with a special thingy that cuts out perfectly round holes - the top stair has two of them

Avoriaz

You have a family of Borrowers.

Please don't plug up the holes.

oliveoyl

might they have been for wires or pipes?

fill them. my stairs haven't got holes in apart from 2 at the top for pipes.

or put little doors on the front of each one to please avoriaz

teb_2

maybe the people before you had or were going to have those little lights that you see on all the housey diy progs on telly. some people put them on the stairs up the wall, some put them ON the stairs. :rolleyes: might be that?

ormus

they could be for those old type, stair carpet, clip type things?
similar to rods but a clip thingy???
i know what i mean, but cannot find the words to describe em.
god im loosing the plot here!!!

Canucklehead

Hi

Ventilation?
What's going on in the cupboard underneath?Would it have been used for food storage at some time?Or perhaps someone paranoid about a build up of gas. Is the meter in there? Has it ever been.?
Corgi Guy.

Syman

do you have an cupboard under the stairs, if so i would guess that they were for venilation possibly a problem with damp and/or condensation, and the holes were cut to aleviate this. (though inch and half hole in every stair riser seems a bit over zealous)

to find out just fill them, and check the cupboard regularly. should it start to smell musty or damp, just knock the filler out (one at the top and one at the bottom to create air flow)and cover the holes with vent plates.

amyandoli

hello,

We found these whilst stripping the stairs. We have 3 of the holes either side of our stair uprights. They were for carpet runner rods. We filled them with a mix of glue and as close a shade of the wood as we could find. Hardly noticable now, especially after it's all been waxed.

amy

x