Replies

1. 
   DougU | Aug 09, 2004 05:43am | #1

   You mention cherry and white oak, both are fine but what do you want?

   What is the woodwork currently there? Do you want to keep with that look?

   Need more info, you can build stairs out of an almost endless variety of woods.

   Doug

1. 
   RichS1 | Aug 09, 2004 05:50am | #3

   I will be replacing carpet. My furniture and cabinets are cherry. My concern is if cherry is to soft for a tread.  Depending on this selection, banister and railing would be chosen to match.

1. 
   ed2 | Aug 09, 2004 05:59am | #4

   cherry is beautiful wood, but soft and dings and dents easily    it's a great cabinet or furniture wood as it machines as nice as it looks, but in those functions doesn't take the same beating as stairs/flooring       better off to look at oak, ash, maple, etc    

   maple might be the right choice if you want the softer grain appearance of cherry, but a hardwood for utility purpose

2. 
   DougU | Aug 09, 2004 07:21am | #6

   Sorry Rich, I was playing over in another thread.

   But you got some good answeres on the cherry deal. If you plan to carpet over the cherry treads you could get by with American cherry. You could also use American cherry on just the part of the tread that didnt have the carpet. I see it all the time on the oak treads.

   Cherry would certainly look fantastic, one of my favorite woods.

   Doug

2. 
   Chipper | Aug 09, 2004 05:43am | #2

   any more info?  style & design of house.  type of railing system?  straight stairs, w or w/o landing spiral, turn-back......  plain or ornate interior woodwork?  paint vs. stain?......

   light wood   vs. darker wood       elegant look / rustic / contemporary / arts & crafts...?

   carpeted treads?     prefabricted or custom built stairs?

   location of stairs, in reference to floor plan.

   research your woods on the internet.  do a query on Harwood Supplier.  Most have pictures & detailed information on the various wood species.

3. 
   arcticcat | Aug 09, 2004 06:07am | #5

   Rich, You're right, American cherry is too soft for treads, IMO.  I usually use Brazillian Cherry for floors and stair treads.  The two woods go together nicely; I've done several stairways using Brazillian Cherry for the treads/risers, and American cherry for the railing/newels.  Edited to add that Br. cherry is a very hard wood, holds up real well.

   Mike

   
   

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   Edited 8/8/2004 11:12 pm ET by arcticcat