Exposed Timber treads, are they slippery

[LyNx]

Our staircase at present is carpeted and i would like to remove this and face with cherry. I don't want to make a new staircase, just clad what i have with veneered boards (anyone done this)

I was planning of removing the bullnose section from the treads and trimming back to the face of the riser. 12mm veneered mdf was then going to be fitted to the faces.

My only concern is using a slightly polished surface for the treads. I have thought about letting in a no-slip strip but i;m not sure how this will look. Has anyone got an exposed timber staircase that can comment on this issue.

Is there any no-lip finishes that could be applied to the treads but not too visible.

Andy

 

[cambournepete]

I too have pondered about removing our rather poor stair carpet and cladding the MDF shell. Not considered the slipperyness factor though... 8-[

 

[tim]

just clad what i have with veneered boards

Not done it but I would imagine that veneered boards would potentially wear through quite quickly.

The only wooden staircases that I have been on have always felt like death traps even though I don't actually recall slipping on one.

Cheers

Tim

 

[dedee]

Can I suggest that slipperiness depends on your footwear?

I've seen the aftermath (bruises) on my brother when he slipped (wet feet on polished/varnished pine) and they were not pretty. He then applied a self adhesive transparent tape about 2" wide close to the front of the tread that had a roughed up surface - like velcro but less severe. After awhile this tape picked up dust and fluff and looked a little unsightly.

All of my wifes family live in homes with wooden stairs and I have never heard tell of a "nasty" accident - they do however wear slippers ALWAYS.

Andy

 

[LyNx]

thats the only problem. I once came across a sealer that had to rough finish to it, for applying to treads but i can't seem to find anything now. I know the strip that your talking about but i can see how this will get messy pretty soon.

I have thought about letting in aluminium strips or even a series of 4mm grooves but not still not sure

As for footwear, i think you have to be open and realise that all types will be used. I think the "socks on the top tread" to be the worse

Reason for removing the carpet is the turn the lower 4 steps into drawers. Removing the risers and using the space. I will have to support the treads but this could be a single 30mm mdf panel cut to follow the profile of the back face of the stairs.

Andy

 

[SketchUp Guru]

My brother has wood steps in his house. As others have said, it depends on the footwear. His dogs find it slippery, too, and their nails tend to scrape up the wood.

I don't believe I would use MDF to replace the bullnose (that's what I read--maybe I'm wrong?). If you look at the wear pattern on stairs, a lot of it occurs along that edge. I would be worried about the MDF breaking up with time.

Since you're removing carpet, you can probably get away with having at least 1/4" veneer, maybe thicker. I would cut the bullnose back as you mentioned, and replace it with a solid cherry bullnose joined to the tread with a spline.

Either cut the solid piece with a rebate so that the top surface extends back over the tread by an inch or so to meet the veneer or rebate the bullnose piece to receive the veneer.

I just looked at the stairs in our house, They have a stringer up the center but I think I could get a couple of skinny drawers in. I kind of like your idea. Pictures, please.

 

[Howjoe]

I've been working at a friends house recently, and they've had black polished granite treads put in on a steel framed staircase...ultra modern design that you can see through.

The slip factor was too much of a risk, so they got the firm to come back and grind a strip of grip lines on each one. They're better, but you still wouldn't want to run down them in your socks!

I think some sort of grip surface would be needed. If the wood would allow, the 4mm grooves would look fine IMO.

The drawer idea is fantastic. Would like to see how it trurns out.

Cheers

Howard

 

[SketchUp Guru]

I reread my previous post and decided I didn't word it very well. They saya picture is worth a thousand words. Hopefully this one is worth a dozen or so.

I also had a thought as far as adding a bit of traction to the steps. On many boats decks and cabin soles have holly strips inlaid between the teak planks. I've been on several that have rubber strips instead. The strips are just proud of the deck surface.

Perhaps you could do the same on your steps. I imagine you could find a source for rubber strips but I think holly would look pretty sharp with the cherry. As Mainers (folks from Maine, US) would say, it would be 'finastkind'.

 

[LyNx]

Dave, thanks for the images. I was planing on having a solid piece to the front edge but keeping it as square are posible. I like strong, clean straight lines :wink:

I have been thinking a bit more with what you have said and may go for a 4mm veneer onto 12mm MDF, i think this will increase the timber thickness. But then again, why not go for a solid tread :?

I've drawn out my idea but the new server won't handle FTP at the moment so i can't upload them (can anyone help here quickly)

I have seen timbers set into the treads and think this is a good option. Will only need to be raised by a few MM and won't look out of place

Andy

 

[Gill]

I may have misunderstood the proposal here, but I can't help wondering what would happen if one of the drawers was left open. That could be very dangerous. Self-closing fittings would be absolutely essential in my opinion, but I'd still counsel against installing drawers in the risers anyway.

Gill

 

[LyNx]

Good point Gill. I have been looking it selfclosing runners but have thought about fixing the drawer runnes at a slight angle so when you release the drawer it closes straight away.

Back to the drawing board

Andy

 

[martyn2]

As for the sliping it might be worth looking at the marine industry I think :idea: there is a anti slip varnish out now clear that might be some help

martyn

 

[andrewm]

One of the editions of Grand Designs shown over the weekend had a staircase with treads made out of a couple of thicknesses of ply (total probably about 50mm) with a 5mm veneer on top. Since the couple concerned weren't exactly sparing the pennies (IIRC the whole house cost £1.9m and the cooker alone £36k) that is probably a reasonable way to go. They didn't say what the stairs cost.

Andrew

 

[JFC]

Re the boat non slip thing you can buy granuals that you put in the varnish , i used them on my last boat but found they dont help when trying to clean the surface .
I too would look carefully at the construstion of the stairs before cutting away risers and maybe wedges and glue blocks . Maybe a better way would be to use the shape of the stairs from the back or under the stairs to get more storage .