Treading carefully: Choose the Right Wood for Stair Treads

You've been going up and down those stairs in your house for years, so it's tempting to think they're just the same as they always were. But nothing lasts forever, not even the things we most take for granted. If you're starting to hear creaks, or seeing cracks in the wood or discoloration, it might be time to change out the treads.

Not to be confused with tire treads, wood stair treads are the boards across the top of the stair that your feet steps on as you walk up or down. The vertical kick plates between stairs are known as stair risers, and the saw-tooth shaped pieces supporting the stairs from beneath are stringers. All these pieces need to be fitted tightly together to avoid creaking as the stairs are being used.

If it's time to address some squeaks, cracks or other stair problems, it's a great opportunity to increase their beauty as well. Hardwood stairs with a decorative runner can increase the graciousness of your home. Ranging in price to fit any budget, stair treads can be matched to any décor.

Economical Hardwood

Poplar Stair Treads: Lightweight, and somewhat soft for a hardwood, poplar is fine-grained in white to yellow-brown. It paints well and is easy to cut.

Beech Stair Treads: Stronger than oak or maple, beech is typically a reddish-brown wood that is fairly straight grained.

Ash Stair Treads: Quite strong, ash is grayish-brown in color and grows all over USA and Canada.

Red oak stair treads: Hard, strong, rigid with a pronounced open grain, red oak resists warping. Its reddish color finishes well but is moderately hard to cut.

· Hickory Stair Treads: Very strong, hickory is known for its distinctive look and sharp contrast in light and dark color.

Mid-priced Hardwood

White Oak Stair Treads: Hard, strong, white oak is open-grained, but not as pronounced as red oak. It resists shrinking and warping, has a golden color, and finishes well.

Hard Maple Stair Treads: Extremely hard, hard maple pieces with bird's-eye or wavy grains are highly prized. Its color ranges from reddish to nearly white in color, and it finishes well.

Cherry Stair Treads: The beautiful markings in cherry have long fascinated woodworkers. The heartwood varies from light brown to a reddish brown and will gradually darken over time with exposure to light.

Walnut Stair Treads: Hard, heavy, extra strong with a fairly pronounced, straight grain, walnut resists warping and shrinking. It is light to dark brown in color and finishes well.

Luxury Hardwood

Mahogany Stair Treads: Durable and fine-grained, mahogany resists shrinking, warping, and swelling. It finishes well and is easy to cut.

Birch Stair Treads: Hard, strong and fine-grained, birch resists shrinking and warping. It is similar in color to maple and finishes fairly well.

Some other issues to consider in choosing your wood stair treads:

Diversity: If you want your home to have a unique flair, try hickory, cherry, walnut, white oak, or maple for your stair treads. Go to flooring retailers or search the Internet to compare and contrast. Prefinished: Order your wood stair treads prefinished, and you won't have to deal with having to stay away from the stairs for a few days while the finish seals. Factory finished pieces can generally be installed in one day with very little mess. Also, prefinished pieces can move independently with humidity changes in your home. This decreases the risk of seasonal separations that cause those creaks. Color: Some species of flooring are so beautiful in their natural color, they do not require any added color. Compare hickory, cherry or walnut stair treads to get a sense of the possibilities. Texture: Hardwoods do not have to be smooth. Hand scraped, distressed and reclaimed pieces are becoming more and more available. These pieces have a classic look and add great value to upscale homes.


Turn those irritating squeaks into an occasion for more beauty with restored wood stair treads. The "ups and downs" in your life will suddenly become a lot better!

Concentrate on one area at a time - Whether you're starting from the very beginning with having to determine what style of architecture you want for your home or deciding on a particular element, such as my area of focus, staircase design, concentrate on that one area and work through the possibilities. With staircase design, this might mean first learning about all the different things you'll even need to decide about. What exactly is a newel post or a balustrade? Then you can get a bit more specific - what types of wood stair treads are characteristic for the architectural style we've chosen? Would iron balusters compliment the area of the home the staircase will lead to and from? Although you will be thinking about and focusing on one area in particular, thinking contextually about how this one area fits in with the rest of the home will not only help you to make good decisions, but will also help you uncover other questions to be addressed.

The key though is to note those down and come back to them. Remember, one area at a time to keep from going into overwhelm. Search out pictures of what you like and even what you don't - This is a great way to help your through your decision making process. Head to the library or a bookstore and spend some time going through magazines and books until you find something that you really like. It's again important to keep your focus narrow - look only at staircases and their elements in one sitting - don't let yourself get distracted by chandeliers you like. If you see something you want to come back to, make a note of it so you won't forget. Looking at particular elements in use is another option. Grab your digital camera and go look at buildings that might have iron balusters if you're considering them or the particular type of wood handrails you loved the sample of but would like to see in an actual home setting. Often times, vendors or builders can help you with referrals of where their work or products can be seen. Gather up all of your pictures to not only help you to solidify your vision, but to help to explain what you really want to your architects and home designers - as well as examples of what you absolutely do not want so that they really can get a visual sense of your style.

Iron doesn't only belong outside. Since it can be shaped into an unlimited number of designs, iron balusters can add fluidity and grace to the plainest stairways. And its strength and resilience satisfies themost stringent safety needs. Although we're just beginning to see iron used indoors, this trend was also popular in 16th and 17th century France and Italy . When combined with sweeping stairways and ornate ceilings, iron balusters and banisters have a rich and elegant appeal. If made of iron, balusters (the vertical elements that preventusers from slipping through the stairs) are an ideal place for alittle self-expression in decorating. They are available in innumerable shapes and many colors, and can even be custom made. If you can draw it, there's an artisan who can make it. You can create a look to work with any decorating scheme.
Combined with a wooden handrail, iron balusters can still be affordable. Wood/iron combinations keep the price down, yet still provide the beauty and elegance of iron. Iron rods with twists, scrolling rods with lacy "baskets," filigree designs, and shapesfrom the botanical world are just a few of the options when you're considering iron. Special attention can be given to the newel posts--the sturdy structural posts at the top and bottom of stairways. A more elaborate design at these junctures is both beautiful andstructurally sound. Should you choose wrought iron balusters; these are some advantages. The term "wrought iron" refers to iron that has been heated, then hammered, twisted, bent, forged, or otherwise worked, most frequently for ornamental purposes, by a blacksmith or expertmetal worker. Wrought iron is commercially pure iron with a very small carbon content, but usually containing some slag. It is tough, malleable, ductile and can be easily welded. However, it is not as strong as steel, which has a higher carbon content. The rarity of true wrought iron is due to its production being extremely costly and labor intensive. Wrought iron is rarely completely pure. It is a fibrous material with many strands of slagare mixed into the metal. These slag inclusions give it a distinct look when etched. Also due to the slag, it has a fibrous look when broken or bent past its failure point. Ornamental ironwork today is often referred to as wrought iron, even though it is more likely to be made from mild steel.

Most people don't realize that changing out their old balusters for iron balusters in their staircase can be quite dramatic. In fact, it's often the type of change that goes overlooked. They are used to seeing their stairs as they always have been and short of a major remodel, in the location where they always will be; so they aren't even considered when you're looking for a project to tackle. But these are exactly the type of smaller structural elements, similar to changing countertops and cabinets in a kitchen that can make a big shift in your home -- but in most cases at a dramatically more affordable price than tackling your kitchen! And the impact is going to amaze you, especially if you take the look and feel in a different direction from your home's current design style. For example, if your home has had a country look and feel with wooden balusters, imagine the impact that retrofitting with iron balusters with a gothic influence could have. If your current furniture can work with a dramatic style change like that, or if simple slipcovers will make it work, then you can even punch it up a bit more with some minor cosmetic elements like wall color, window coverings and various accessories, and your redesign project could far exceed your expectations for a much smaller budget than you had ever imagined. All just from focusing on something as obvious, but neglected, as your staircase and adding wrought iron balusters as the main design element.