Dismantling cascamite (?) on old stairs

[zak99]

Hi, I have some old softwood stairs I'd like to dismantle and reuse. The wedges are well and truly glued and stuck fast. I know the stairs are at least 40 years old. I'm guessing it's cascamite. I tried a hot air gun without success. Any ideas please?

(The stairs are in a basement I'm having tanked so they have to come out. They are a 270 degree turn so can't come out intact)

Rgds

Zak

 

[Stormer1940]

Dismantling intact may not be an option here. Last time I tried dismantling a door frame that had been glued with cascamite was a no go. This was literally hitting the horns of the frame up with a hammer with a block of wood inbetween with all my might and it was stuck fast. I'm intrigued to see if someone has a solution for this.

Can you maybe chop the wedges out and bang the treads and riser back into the wedge space?

 

[zak99]

Thanks Stormer. I'll attack em again this week and let you know.

 

[Mike Jordan]

Cascamite sets by a chemical action which as far as I know is not reversible in any way. Once cured the glue is waterproof and as hard as rock. I would not expect to dismantle the stairs without substantial damage. The only method I can suggest is cutting through all the treads and risers close to the strings and carefully chopping out the end parts from the strings in small pieces, a labour intensive method of ending up with something you can make new in less time ( but at a cost of course)

 

[zak99]

Thanks Mike, the cascamite glue joints are limited to wedges and riser to tread blocks. I am managing to dismantle and save treads and risers without too much hassle but the stringers are shot due to either rot and/or woodworm.