Wood Too Slippery on a Curved Staircase

12 years ago

Our contractor has suggested that we shouldn't do wood on our curved staircase for 3 main reasons:

1. We have two little kids and he thinks it will be too slippery.
2. The stairs are not rectangular, and are significantly larger at the wall, so he estimated it will take him 3 days to do the stairs.
3. The floor is engineered wood throughout the house, so to cut to odd sizes, we will need a different product.

I am not sure what to do with the stairs as we don't have carpet ANYWHERE in the house. Can anyone suggest or attach a picture for inspiration?

Featured Answer

PRO

Cancork Floor Inc.

12 years ago

I see you've been to Tim H's! Very nice. Cork floating flooring does well on stairs. The broad planks have a larger surface to work with. Cork is traditionally a low slip surface - but in fuzzy socks it can be a bit tricky - see "sliding on bum" comment above. I'm attaching a picture of a lighter cork floor - ignore the colour - that is on a curved stair. Looks magnificent. I have several cork floors that could match the banister/floor/door that would not look out of place.

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Comments (10)

snevins
12 years ago
I'm not sure what to say about points 2 and 3, but as for wood being too slippery, we live in a 1920s Craftsman with wooden stairs, and it was never a serious problem for my boys (we moved in when the oldest was just learning to walk). They just learned to hold on while they were very small, and as they got older they were able to go down safely with "no hands."

Plus, it's super fun to sit and bump down wood stairs!

But it sounds like there are also other barriers to wood stairs for your home.
Kyla Belvedere thanked snevins
User
12 years ago
Bare stairs can be a bit slippery in socks, but I have them on my back stairs which my daughters always used to come down from their bedrooms and we have never had a fall. I use the staircase now that they are grown and gone and no problems! You could consider a sisal runner and sisal area rug or sisal by the front door to tie in the two.
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Kyla Belvedere
Original Author
12 years ago
This picture shows the stair shape.
PRO
Boerne Kitchens and Baths
12 years ago
last modified: 12 years ago
Engineer wood floors have a particularly slick finish for a stair application. A regular hand finished floor is not as slick. You can get just about any species wood to do the stairs, oak, cherry or something close to your existing floor and try to match the stain.

I would not do engineered wood on the stairs.
Kyla Belvedere
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you! I should add that the house has been gutted since the picture (carpet is gone, parquet is gone, trim is gone, new windows) so it is a blank slate right now.
nancyann0277a
12 years ago
Sounds like your contractor doesn't want to do the job. Wants an easy way out. Go for the wood stairs.
PRO
Brickwood Builders, Inc.
12 years ago
We redid our personal staircase and my husband fell down the stairs within a couple of days and then the dog fell all the way down. We ended up putting a decorative runner down the middle. Personally, I would do the wood and then do a runner for safety.
User
12 years ago
You may as well just do wood on each end of the treads and risers. The runner can go over cheaper material that is easier to work with. The runner will need cut and tacked down at every step anyway on a curved stair. Your builder is very smart and looking out for both of your interests.
Kyla Belvedere thanked User
Kyla Belvedere
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, I agree. He is a good friend of ours to begin with, and we trust him completely! That was one of his suggestions as well--an inlaid carpet he called it.