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Ideas for finishing stairs treads

curley | Posted in General Discussion on July 7, 2007 08:00am

When you mate old construction with new construction and both have finished oak floors and both floors have different stains on the floors, what do you do with the stairs that join new to old? What are some options for the treads. You can match the treads to only one floor.

 

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  1. Hackinatit | Jul 07, 2007 08:08pm | #1

    paint

    Troy Sprout

    "A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should also have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government."
    -- George Washington

  2. Piffin | Jul 07, 2007 08:54pm | #2

    It is not uncommon to use different stains or even different woods on the stairs to set them off as a feature. To my thinking it is safer that way and it is very boring if every horizontal walking surface in the house is the same.

    As UI wrote that, I was trying to think of the last time I worked on a house with stairs and floor the same wood and finish.

    Red birch floors with red oak stairs.

    Antique heart pine floors with stairs of oak, SYP, or white pine or red pine.

    Birch stair treads over maple floor

    Red birch stairs over maple floor.

    I guess the closet I have seen to same/same was SYP stairs over heart pine floor and both stained walnut

    So don't get hung up.

    If you want a match, pick one. The last I built had the stairs prominent in the first floor, but they landed in the upstairs in a corner behind a closet almost so you almost had to look to find them. So for that if I wanted a match to one or the other I would have matched the downstairs floor.

     

     

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    1. curley | Jul 07, 2007 09:16pm | #5

      thanks  I'll follow your suggestion

  3. User avater
    Sphere | Jul 07, 2007 08:55pm | #3

    Varigate the shade of stain from one floor to the next over the run of the stairs.

     

  4. DougU | Jul 07, 2007 08:56pm | #4

    If your trying to avoid refinishing all the floors then try a happy medium! You should be able to do a little experimenting and come up with something that will be a close match to what you currently have.

    Its wood dammit, its not supposed to match 100%, if you want that then the second poster had a good suggestion.

    Doug

     



    Edited 7/7/2007 1:58 pm ET by DougU

  5. IdahoDon | Jul 07, 2007 09:45pm | #6

    Given that situation I like to match the treads with the lower floor and the top nosing is the same as the upper floor.

    Visually, when going up a difference in stain is very noticeable and it's typically thought of that the first impression when entering the space is most important, especially if this is a formal space.  While on the second floor it's human nature to focus less on what's down the stairwell and more on what's actually up there.

    If in doubt stand at the opening to the room or space and look at what's there and imagine the alternatives.  That's the view that much of what we do is intended to maximize.

     

    Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.

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