I've removed all carpet from our home and replaced most of the floors
with hard maple or porcelain tile. The two staircases were cheaply
made and intended for carpet; particleboard treads and plywood risers.
For the main staircase I have new oak treads and risers to install,
but the labor involved in ripping out the old ones (it's only
accessible from the top and they are glued/screwed in) has me putting
it off until summer.

My question is the basement staircase. It leads to a finished basement
and guest room that we use for company. I've removed the carpet from
the stairs and painted them as a temporary measure, but clearly need a
permanent solution. We don't want carpet or vinyl in the house so what
alternatives as there for covering the particleboard treads? Are
there ways to paint stairs of this nature that will look good and be
durable? Alternatives to carpet or vinyl for covering?

I'm looking for ideas and hope someone else has found a better
alternative.

thanks,

kiwanda

On 1/14/2012 9:02 AM, Kiwanda wrote:
....

... particleboard treads and plywood risers.
For the main staircase I have new oak treads and risers to install,
....

My question is the basement staircase. It leads to a finished basement
and guest room that we use for company. ...
alternatives as there for covering the particleboard treads? Are
there ways to paint stairs of this nature that will look good and be
durable? Alternatives to carpet or vinyl for covering?

I'm looking for ideas and hope someone else has found a better
alternative.


You've found the alternative above. Doesn't have to be oak, but a solid
tread is the only way I can think of that will last any time.

You might get by w/ a thin cover over the existing treads (like a
engineered flooring product and cover the edge w/ the bullnose, but
you'll have to be careful of messing w/ the rise or you'll end up w/
either too high a rise:run ratio or a mismatch between the top/bottom
treads and the associated floor(s)/landing(s). So, all in all, I would
simply replace the treads on both w/ solid.

--

On 1/14/2012 10:02 AM, Kiwanda wrote:
I've removed all carpet from our home and replaced most of the floors
with hard maple or porcelain tile. The two staircases were cheaply
made and intended for carpet; particleboard treads and plywood risers.
For the main staircase I have new oak treads and risers to install,
but the labor involved in ripping out the old ones (it's only
accessible from the top and they are glued/screwed in) has me putting
it off until summer.

My question is the basement staircase. It leads to a finished basement
and guest room that we use for company. I've removed the carpet from
the stairs and painted them as a temporary measure, but clearly need a
permanent solution. We don't want carpet or vinyl in the house so what
alternatives as there for covering the particleboard treads? Are
there ways to paint stairs of this nature that will look good and be
durable? Alternatives to carpet or vinyl for covering?

I'm looking for ideas and hope someone else has found a better
alternative.

thanks,

kiwanda

I've had some off-the-wall ideas in the past that work out well. Stairs
depend, somewhat, on amount of traffic, children, pets, etc. Could
"upholster" the stairway with heavy fabric...allows change without major
work, non-slip, any kind of color/pattern one's heart desires. Tile
with wood edge would look great, if treads are firm enough. One can
also glue down some canvas and paint it, again any style/pattern one's
heart desires.

On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:02:32 -0800 (PST), Kiwanda
wrote:



My question is the basement staircase. It leads to a finished basement
and guest room that we use for company. I've removed the carpet from
the stairs and painted them as a temporary measure, but clearly need a
permanent solution. We don't want carpet or vinyl in the house so what
alternatives as there for covering the particleboard treads? Are
there ways to paint stairs of this nature that will look good and be
durable? Alternatives to carpet or vinyl for covering?

I'm looking for ideas and hope someone else has found a better
alternative.

I used laminate on one set of stairs. After 10 years, it looks as
good as the day it was installed. Easy to care for.

Check out laminate and engineered hardwood. Best to choose one that
has the pre-made bullnose fronts for easy match and good looks.

If I was doing it over again, I'd use the same WilsonArt material that
I have already. Be sure to use a carbide blade for your cuts. That
is tough stuff.

On Jan 14, 11:12*am, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I used laminate on one set of stairs.

I've considered that. We put about 1,800 sq ft of laminate in a
previous house, but not on the stairs. I assume you used pre-fab
bullnose of some kind at the edge of the treads?

Has anyone tried the linoleum or rubber treads that are typically used
in institutional or retail settings? I'm thinking about
these type http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/s..._systems.shtml

The stairs go directly into our home theater, which is decorated like,
well, a theater: dark walls, red velvet, etc. Transitioning from the
tile hallway upstairs to a rubber tread might be OK if we continued
the color scheme/theme from the theater space up the stairwell so it
was clearly differentiated from the main part of the house.

-kiwanda

Kiwanda writes:

On Jan 14, 11:12Â*am, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I used laminate on one set of stairs.

I've considered that. We put about 1,800 sq ft of laminate in a
previous house, but not on the stairs. I assume you used pre-fab
bullnose of some kind at the edge of the treads?

Has anyone tried the linoleum or rubber treads that are typically used
in institutional or retail settings? I'm thinking about
these type http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/s..._systems.shtml

The stairs go directly into our home theater, which is decorated like,
well, a theater: dark walls, red velvet, etc. Transitioning from the
tile hallway upstairs to a rubber tread might be OK if we continued
the color scheme/theme from the theater space up the stairwell so it
was clearly differentiated from the main part of the house.

Carpet would be perfect.

But you just removed that.

--
Dan Espen

On 1/14/2012 2:09 PM, Kiwanda wrote:
On Jan 14, 11:12 am, Ed wrote:

I used laminate on one set of stairs.

I've considered that. We put about 1,800 sq ft of laminate in a
previous house, but not on the stairs. I assume you used pre-fab
bullnose of some kind at the edge of the treads?

Has anyone tried the linoleum or rubber treads that are typically used
in institutional or retail settings? I'm thinking about
these type http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/s..._systems.shtml
....

Well, you just finished posting you didn't want vinyl which one would
have presumed would have left such out.

We have a set on the basement (poured steps) they look, well,
institutional and while our basement is "finished" it's farm washroom,
laundry space, etc., not "house finished" as far as decor or concern of
matching the other stairwells, etc. But, of course, it's your house.

I also suggested you could perhaps get by w/ the laminate over the
existing if that's really, really, really what you're trying to do, but
you'll be far better off just putting down a pine or other solid tread imo.

--

On Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:02:32 -0800 (PST), Kiwanda
wrote:

I've removed all carpet from our home and replaced most of the floors
with hard maple or porcelain tile. The two staircases were cheaply
made and intended for carpet; particleboard treads and plywood risers.
For the main staircase I have new oak treads and risers to install,
but the labor involved in ripping out the old ones (it's only
accessible from the top and they are glued/screwed in) has me putting
it off until summer.

My question is the basement staircase. It leads to a finished basement
and guest room that we use for company. I've removed the carpet from
the stairs and painted them as a temporary measure, but clearly need a
permanent solution. We don't want carpet or vinyl in the house so what
alternatives as there for covering the particleboard treads? Are
there ways to paint stairs of this nature that will look good and be
durable? Alternatives to carpet or vinyl for covering?

I'm looking for ideas and hope someone else has found a better
alternative.

thanks,

kiwanda
There is a hardwood capping system - you cur off the nose of the
tread and glue the "hardwood" tread on. They have covers for the
rizers too.
I think they are available in "real " wood as well as
composite/laminate.