80's wood type?

[techbird]

Dear all.
Could you kindly help me identify this wood ? I live in a UK town house built in the 80s. The stairs are not easy-on-the-eye and rancher style; 3 large horizontal wood planks between each newel post. I was wondering what I could do to make the stairs look better; but before I went too far I stripped and sanded down one of the planks. Curious now what type of wood this is. Thank you kindly.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Could well be parana pine.

 

[Doug71]

From the fact you said 80's ranch style handrails I guessed Parana Pine before seeing the photo.

After seeing the photo I would still say Parana but it is often more colourful than that.

It's on the endangered list so hard to come by these days.

 

[johnnyb]

we used one similar called canary pine. but parana pine was great for wide stable boards with little grain sort of tulip plus.

 

[techbird]

Simply fascinating; thank you ever so kindly for the responses. I hope it's not sacrilege as I get time I will introduce the now identified pine to some osmo; the current white paint on them is functional at best. I agree with this houzz post; these banisters are really cheap and ugly but will have to make do.

https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/1354888/ugly-cheap-looking-banister

 

[Doug71]

Ranch style handrailing was the height of fashion at one time, I'm sure it will make a come back in some form although it doesn't comply with building regs these days.

Funny how fashions change, a friend has a bathroom showroom, his main display at the moment is an Avocado suite, tells me people are going mad for them

 

[johnnyb]

it the antithesis of the older fussy styles so it was fashionable. unfortuneatly it displayed no craft skills. they can be tricky to do up well because the newel can be odd sizes and in odd positions to accommodate the rails. open riser sapele stairs are another building regs victim.(lethal with socks on after a good Mr sheen session.)

 

[niall Y]

'Banana Pine' would also be my choice as it was the only thing commonly available in nice wide boards at that time ( apart from whitewood and for a period , southern yellow pine) .
I always found it rather unpleasant to work with, as it often smelt of sick and it also had a habit of bending horribly - hence its nickname. I believe that it is now banned for export from Brazil.

 

[J-G]

'Banana Pine' would also be my choice as it was the only thing commonly available in nice wide boards at that time ( apart from whitewood and for a period , southern yellow pine) .
I always found it rather unpleasant to work with, as it often smelt of sick and it also had a habit of bending horribly - hence its nickname. I believe that it is now banned for export from Brazil.

I have a very different opinion on Parana Pine - beautful to work with, wonderful aroma. The few 'shelves' I rescued when my father died and mother gave up the 'sweet & tobacco' shop are still prized though there is little left. (It was 40+years ago!)

 

[niall Y]

I have a very different opinion on Parana Pine - beautful to work with, wonderful aroma. The few 'shelves' I rescued when my father died and mother gave up the 'sweet & tobacco' shop are still prized though there is little left. (It was 40+years ago!)

Mmm......... each to his own, I suppose

What it did have going for it was that it was pretty blemish free, and available in 12" wide boards. That particular smell wasn't always present, just as I've found with elm - which can sometimes smell of ' cow-pats' , and other times of 'stewed apples'.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I suspect parana picks up the smells of stuff it's been stored with and the environment in which it's been used - I've used salvaged stuff, and I swear I could tell you whether the householders were smokers, what polish they'd used and the the name of the perfume the woman wore.

 

[mwinfrance]

I suspect parana picks up the smells of stuff it's been stored with and the environment in which it's been used - I've used salvaged stuff, and I swear I could tell you whether the householders were smokers, what polish they'd used and the the name of the perfume the woman wore.

This ^^^

 

[J-G]

I suspect parana picks up the smells of stuff it's been stored with and the environment in which it's been used - I've used salvaged stuff, and I swear I could tell you whether the householders were smokers, what polish they'd used and the the name of the perfume the woman wore.

That could well be why my experience is different from @niall Y - not just the 'tobacco' aroma but the 'Palma Violets', 'Shem-el-Nessim' Cashews, Licorice and many more scents that inhabit an old fashioned sweet shop Ahhhh....