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Wooden stairs finish

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Wooden stairs finish

Postby woodstalker » 15 Oct 2016, 19:37

We've just had a staircase installed to the basement room, the install is very neat but it is nothing fancy in terms of the materials its made from and i am trying to find ideas of how to finish it off so it looks good but is hard wearing and non-slip.

The basement opens out onto the garden so the stairs essentially lead from the back door to the living room. We could just paint them which would be ok but i am left wondering what finish could go on the treads themselves that is hard wearing and non slip.

Anyone got any suggestions? Don't want it to be too expensive or tricky to install for obvious reasons!
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby Mike G » 15 Oct 2016, 19:39

What are they made of?
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby woodstalker » 15 Oct 2016, 19:41

Mike G wrote:What are they made of?


They are pine housings, spindles etc. and mdf treads and risers. the landing is chipboard flooring.

I should say we have discounted carpet because of the high traffic coming in from outside (big hairy smelly dog!)

edit: picture added:

Image
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby Andyp » 15 Oct 2016, 20:05

It's the large hairy smelly dog that bothers me. If you want something easy to clean then it is likely to be slippery when wet.
Have you ever seen a product called Flotex? It is a flooring tile with a flocked feel to it and hence non slip, almost carpet like to the touch, but it can be cleaned like a vinyl floor.

We had it in a rental flat some years back and it can take a lot of abuse and be cleaned.

No idea how it expensive it is.
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby Mike G » 15 Oct 2016, 20:17

Yeah, you're going to be carpeting that. MDF is not suitable for a bare stair tread.

By the way, I hope you are going to put a timber shelf on that little horizontal thing around the stairwell? You've got it tacked as though it will be plastered, but horizontal surfaces in plasterwork are to be avoided, and a little narrow shelf there would be dead easy..
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby DaveL » 15 Oct 2016, 20:24

Big hairy dog will wear the mdf very quickly, even out door shoes will mark it.
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby woodstalker » 15 Oct 2016, 20:56

Andyp wrote:It's the large hairy smelly dog that bothers me.


How could this be any bother?

Image

Cheers for the advice guys, i will have a look at Flotex but i bet it is out of our price range at the minute.

Definitely no carpet going on it, will have a look at cladding i suppose, its what we did on the main stairs to get rid of the honking carpet on that. Temporarily i might end up having to paint it just wondered if there were any wonder products that i hadn't heard of. For example i used osmo non slip deck oil on the timber deck outside and thats worked a treat.

Mike, as for shelf, to be honest we haven't got that far in the interior design plan, i suspect something will go on there once SWMBO has had time to come up with a plan. A shelf would go nicely...
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby RogerS » 15 Oct 2016, 21:35

woodstalker wrote:...... once SWMBO has had time to come up with a plan.....


:lol: :lol: I've got one of those as well ...

I've learnt that when SWMBO says 'You decide' that'..... it's not worth expending any brainpower in trying to second guess what SWMBO wants. So come up with anything. It saves wasting time trying to second guess what they want.

They then say ..something along the lines of 'Are you sure ?'.

You say 'Yes...ish'.

They then say what they really wanted in the first place.

And you say 'OK'.

If you really want to go for mega-brownie points, you pause and think and then say 'Ah, yes...I like that. Good idea'.
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby Malc2098 » 15 Oct 2016, 22:31

I must be a weirdo, but I've painted 3 staircases now from bare wood and quite enjoy it.

I would paint the MDF treads, too, in the first instance to give a layer of protection to the surface, whether you leave them like that or put something else on top.
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby RogerM » 15 Oct 2016, 22:57

+1 for Flotex. We had it in our kitchen for over 20 years and it's pretty much bomb proof. I've even known farmers put it down in dairy parlours, and they can just hose the cow 5hit off it and it comes up as good as new. Not cheap, but it will last.
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Re: Wooden stairs finish

Postby Andyp » 16 Oct 2016, 08:51

woodstalker wrote:
Andyp wrote:It's the large hairy smelly dog that bothers me.

How could this be any bother?
Image


Indeed, butter wouldn't melt. I just couldn't see how you can have a finish that is easy to clean paw prints off but remains non slip.
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