Very old stair treads

borntoyawn · 31 Oct 2012

Hi,

We're in the process of renovating a very old farm house, and I'm currently doing the entrance hall, stairs and landing.

The stairs have been stripped of a few hundred years of grime and many coats coats of paint and are back to bare wood.

Can anybody reccomend a finish that will help to protect them from further wear (the bottom steps are cupped where the wood has worn away), not stain them, and not be sloppy? We're not putting carpet down.

Thanks,

John

AndyT · 31 Oct 2012

That's a tall order! I don't think you'll find a finish that is like wood but harder and also invisible. For something to stop further wear it would need to be a thick layer which would wear away instead of the wood beneath.

If the worn timber is crumbly or soft, there is stuff sold for reinforcing rotten wood which might slow down the wear a bit, but frankly it sounds as if you need to replace the worn treads which are probably a safety hazard. You could maybe get similar old wood from a reclamation yard to get a good match. Replacing treads is often quite easy if you have access to the underside of the flight, and is not impossible even if you don't.

One other suggestion which would possibly fit in with your stripped-back non-carpeted approach would be to just put pads of floor covering on the treads. One of the woven natural fibre products could look suitable (depending what the stairs and your cottage are like, of course!)

borntoyawn · 31 Oct 2012

Hi, thanks for replying. I thought I was asking a bit much.

The treads aren't too bad, and they look nice bare. I think what I'm after is some kind of finish that won't wear too quickly, and that will enhance the grain.

But I guess most importantly won't be slippy.

Cheers,
John

=Adam= · 31 Oct 2012

You could use osmo poly x oil (I think that's what it is called) it is a polyurethane based finish and is hard wearing although it can tint the wood slightly yellow.

Quite a few people have put this on their stairs that we have done in work. Also we tend to recommend a brand called johnstones to use their water based clear finish. This isn't that hard wearing however it is as close to bare wood finish as we have found.

Hope this helps

Phil Pascoe · 31 Oct 2012

borntoyawn":3stwb86b said:
Hi, thanks for replying. I thought I was asking a bit much.

The treads aren't too bad, and they look nice bare. I think what I'm after is some kind of finish that won't wear too quickly, and that will enhance the grain.

But I guess most importantly won't be slippy.

Cheers,
John

A few coats of satin polyurethane with a sprinkling of silicone carbide grit on the last one? We used to put the grit in varnish on toilet doors in bars - you could identify the thugs who'd punched holes in them by the bloody knuckles.