Stair Tread finish ?

[Jim Warman]

A lot depends on where the stairs are in the house and your usual footwear in that area of the house.

Being Canadian (and as close to a red-neck as Canadians get). I wear socks..... Brits, OTOH, wear slippers - usually some variation on rubber compounds for soles...... watching TV, I see Yanks wear their grubby old street shoes in the house.

Upsides... I change my socks every day and wind up polishing the things I walk on. The Brits don't do much good for their floors, but at least their socks last longer. Yanks.... well, if you're lucky, that dog turd will at least fall off under the coffee table....

It's mostly a joke, fercrisesakes.... but I still stand by the footwear part. Usage defines finish...

[Puff Griffis]

Ok I did a DAGS and did not find the answer. What is the best finish to = use on stair treads ? My wife loves the look of oil but I am not sure = that would hold up. Any suggestions would be helpful. Puff

[JGS]

stair treads ? My wife loves the look of oil but I am not sure that would hold up. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Swingman]

And being Canadian of couse, you believe everything you see on TV?

Youd do better to change your underwear, that "dog turd" you're imagining under the coffee table is obviously coming up your collar.

Fuck you, asshole.

... hey, it's mostly a joke, fercrisesakes.

[Swingman]

Match the finish of your wood floors. Usually a polyurethane. Just don't wax stair treads unless you're looking for a lawsuit.

[firstjois]

Is there any kind of special finish for stairs that would keep them from being too slippery? Newly finished polyurethan floors are slippery to stocking feet and some kinds of slippers and shoes, stairs must be murder.

Josie

[George]

We got my mother a couple sets of "aqua sock" type slip-ons to be used as slippers. I notice that they're using something with similar embedded rubber grip on the bottom of socks in nursing homes now, too.

I make the rounds annually to seniors groups to preach against throw rugs, shiny stairs and slick bathtubs. I don't like picking up people off the floors or out of tubs who are old enough that a broken hip is almost a death sentence. I've even had two people whose fall on enamel painted basement steps killed them when their head impacted a solid object. Too high a price to pay for stylish stairs.

[Swingman]

Polyurethane will eventually lose some of that slippery-to-stocking-feet quality with use, but I wouldn't rely on it ... and be particularly wary of the helpful household helper who thinks Endust, or something similar, is just the thing for those stair treads.

If you really want a stair tread that matches your hardwood floor, and many folks seem to want to that these days, non-slip footwear is highly recommended, especially for older folks ... unless, of course, you're a certain "redneck Canadian", who will hopefully continue to wear his socks.

[patrick conroy]

True. Some/most/all/a-few do. Has to do with the fantastic wealth inherent to every American. We can afford new carpet/tile/flooring every other year.

No! We pick them up and put them in the freezer until our Canuck friends drop by for a visit. Then we offer them a "Baby Ruth" bar.

[mp]

Red-neck Canadian? Ha! This time of year it's more like blue-neck. Blue lips. Blue ears. Blue fingers, blue arse, etc..

[Dave Jackson]

This Yank wears boots in the house, just in case i have to kick the living shit out of some Canadian red neck someday.

[Puff Griffis]

Thank you all for your responses. It looks like poly win's it's place on = my stairwell. Puff

[Hansen]

I just finished replacing my stair tread with Curly Maple and for the finish I went with Verathayne floor finish (oil based). It is not only better resistant to water, it is self leveling and I didn't get the "brush" strokes that occasionally appear. It is a little slick when dry (thats why I -being a Yank- wear shoes, not socks in the house). The stairs came out nice and the wife is pleased. They have stood up to a pit bull and a 110 pund German Shepard and a 5 year old. Along those lines, they clean up very well.

The only down fall to the Verathayne is that you will have to refinish them eventually.

[Bob Schmall]

Caution--that post about slippery finishes is worth your consideration. My wife and I have gone horizontal a couple of times on our oak treads, so we asked on the rec. and found Skid Safe, a water-based finish from New Dimensions

It works--we can take the steps in our socks now, like many Yanks. It comes only in a gloss finish, however, and will show wear after a couple of years. And it's about $40 a quart.

Bob