I'm doing a DIY project converting my carpeted stairs to stained 1" think red oak treads and painted poplar risers. My issue is at the top of the stairs where I'm placing a narrow stair tread, this stair tread then transitions to carpet. This top stair tread sits on top of the plywood sub-floor (existing carpet has been cut back) that the existing carpet is installed on. To make sure that this top stair tread is level I'm going to have to place shims under it, the plywood sub-flooring is not level. I'm concerned that this is going to create a trip hazard due to the height difference between the carpet and stair tread. New carpet will be installed, so some sort of transition piece can be used if possible. I believe here are my options to correct this:
1) cut the sub-flooring in that small area and replace it so the transition between the carpet and stair tread is level and acceptable.
2) bevel cut the back edge of the stair tread to minimize the height difference
3) use some sort of transition piece between the stair tread to carpet when new carpet is installed.
What is typically done in this situation? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks