Slippery Hardwood Steps

[Billy]

I just spent several thousand dollars on ripping up carpeting in the entire house (including several staircases), and then I learn that hardwood steps are extremely slippery. My wife was wearing socks, and she slipped and fell with our 3 month baby in her arms. Just missed his head on the railing.

Does anyone have a recommendation on how to provide a safe and nice looking DIY solution to oak hardwood steps to prevent the slip? I do not want to carpet the entire step, because we still want the look of the hardwood, and also can't afford to recarpet everything back to eliminate the hardwood.

[montana]

There are stair runners for such situations. They are held to the steps with brass rods. You still see the outside edges of the steps, but the middle part is covered.

Of course, the least expensive way to handle this is to try to get your wife to wear the footie socks that have the rubber on the bottom...

[Paul Franklin]

Similar situation. Our older dog couldn't make it up or down without slipping after I removed the carpeting.

We found some carpet tread liners. They are just tread shaped pieces of carpet with bound edges and have a rubber back so they don't slip. They cover most of the tread. They are easy to lift up to clean the steps and runners. Bought them from some online/mailorder place, sorry I don't remember where, but I have seen them in catalogs.

You can also use anti-slip strips made just for this. They are long narrow strips with a rough surface like sandpaper, and adhesive back. you stick them near the edge of each tread. The work well, but look pretty ugly and institutional.

HTH,

Paul

( [e-mail]) (you know what to leave out)

[Joseph Meehan]

A different finish may also make a big difference. Waxes also can increase or decrease the effect.