While you might use them multiple times every day, wooden stairs in your home are always quite dangerous. Have you ever got up in the middle of the night for a snack or to check on the puppy, only to find yourself flat? If you are ready to avoid that problem and want to know how to make wooden steps less slippery, read this.

The simplest way to make your wooden stairs less slippery is to add a cover in the form of a stair runner or carpet. If you don’t like the carpet, spray and paint, anti-slip for wood stairs, transparent stair strips additives work, too – be sure to remove the wax from your stairs first. Lastly, measure the rise and run of each step to make sure they are up to code.

It’s good news that you can make your steps slip-proof with inexpensive and simple solutions. On the other hand, carpeting is time-consuming and more costly than adhesives and stains.

In this post, we’ll go through the pros and cons of each process and product so that you can select the right choice for the non-slip texture on your wooden stairs.

Are your Wood Stairs too Slippery?

This seems like a silly question. Why do people keep setting them in their houses if they are dangerous?

The simple explanation is that well-installed, hardwood stairs look lovely. If your steps are opposite your front door, this is usually the first thing visitors see when they enter your home. A beautiful bunch of oak, ash or hickory stair treads is a massive selling feature and conversation point for anyone who comes to your home.

To get those treads to shine, they need to be sanded ultra-smooth, then have multiple layers of stain and finish or wax. This “shine” – the stair finish – makes your wooden steps slippery.

The alternative to sanding your steps is to use coarse sandpaper to create rougher treads for better traction. Still, you will be sanding off your stair tread finish and will have a very poor tread appearance. Not an option.

Down we’ll look at all the options to make your wooden steps less slippery while holding an acceptable appearance for your staircase.

How to Make Wooden Stairs Less Slippery?

Transparent Anti-Slip for Wood Stairs Strips

I recommend adhesive, transparent anti-slip strips for different reasons. The best is that these strips still allow you to see your stunning, finished wood steps. As their name indicates, these stripes are transparent. Some products even deliver a roller for installation. The roller will release any air bubbles from the strip, allowing it to mix in perfectly with the leftovers of the stair tread.

These strips can work with indoor and outdoor stages and textures other than wood. Depending on the factory, it may be hard to remove these strips if you ever want to stop using them.

Today, transparent anti-slip strips are produced with environmentally safe materials – no PVC – looking for indoor, barefoot use. Unlike the non-transparent black strips, these transparent strips are not like sandpaper. They deliver a tactile yet soft texture that prevents slips while staying comfortable to walk on.

There have been objections that these strips would attract dirt, protecting their wooden steps and negating their transparency. Many clear strips now present an easy to clean shell, demanding only water and a rag to bring them to a clear brightness.

Pros

• Easy to clean
• Non-abrasive surface
• Indoor/Outdoor
• Transparent

Cons

• Air bubbles will appear if not installed properly
• Can collect dirt around the edges
• It May did not come off easily

Stair Carpet Strips

Just like the adhesive strips, carpet strips are rectangles of carpets cut to fit a typical tread size. The advantage of stair carpets strips is that multiple of them come with a backing that is neither adhesive nor glue. That tells no damage to your hardwood stair tracks. The other appealing factor of carpet strips is that it lets you avoid installing a carpet stair runner, which runs the length of your stairs.

Stair carpet strips come in various designs and sizes to fit wide or narrow steps. Many arrive with a tacky – but not adhesive – backing that holds the carpet in place. Some products offer a no-slip underlay rather than back on the carpet itself.

These strips were invented for indoor use. Modern stair carpet strips concentrate on making a product that won’t harm your wooden stairs, even when you withdraw them.

Some shy away from stair carpet strips mostly because they, at times, might tend to slip, negating the very cause you had them in the first place. Depending on the finish on your floor, you might have a problem getting the carpet strips to stay in place.

If you have many small kids in your house, you know nothing is sacred, not even stair carpet strips. Children will peel them on and off or just take them and drag them. All that movement will finally wear away at the strips’ ability to hold in place.

Pros

• Non-adhesive backing
• Different designs/colours are available
• Aesthetically pleasing

Cons

• The backing can wear away after a while
• Some versions are prone to movement
• Can be expensive

Anti-Slip Tape

A product you have likely seen in institutional or commercial establishments is the black, rough tape that you’d see on the treads in stairwells. Anyone who has utilized this anti-slip tape before knows that it will attach and provide an adequate non-slip cover for stairs. In fact, this tape is honestly sandpaper – 80 grit – with a sticky backing.

Actually better, this tape is weatherproof. You can put it on interior and exterior wood stairs without fear of it peeling off. I wouldn’t suggest putting it in an area that experiences constant moistness, such as a pool deck, but it will withstand rain.

The big issue with putting anti-slip tape on wood stairs in your home is that getting it off is a problem. The sticky backing is not kind to wood floor finishes, and you can hope that when you pull the strips off, the wood finish will come along with it.

As well, the tape is irregular. It may be discomfiting for little feet and toes when barefoot in the home.

If you have an industrial space or workplace with wooden stairs, this tape is a great choice because it ensures that you won’t slip. However, the look, feel, and flexibility make it impracticable for a nice set of wooden stages in your own house.

Pros

• Effective
• Weatherproof
• Cheap

Cons

• Very rough texture (sandpaper)
• Do not come off easily

Stair Runners

A stair runner is a length of carpet that runs the full length of your stairs, from top to bottom. In fancier houses or hotels, you might see a glowing red runner running down the middle of a lavish staircase – that’s a stair runner. For most of us, a stair runner will resemble our current carpet in other parts of our home, but it will be cut and completed to fit the size and width of our stairs.

Stair runners are a more costly option for homeowners because they should be fitted to your exact stair measurements – height and width. It is also more difficult to install.

A knee-kicker, pneumatic stapler, and other tools are needed when installing. You will also need underlayment to put under the stair runner per tread.

A stair runner does not take up the whole width of a stair, so you will still be able to visit the hardwood on either side of the carpet. On the other hand, the runner will hide most of your stairs, so the lovely wood finish of your steps will be mostly covered.

This option will stop slips and falls – but it comes at a cost. You lose the eye of your wood stairs while paying a steep install fee for the steps runner.

Pros

• Comes in many different designs
• Attractive, professional look
• Excellent slip-proof surface

Cons

• Very rough texture
• Difficult to install
• Expensive

Anti-Slip Floor Finish

A less common solution due to the absence of products available anti-slip wood finishes is available that won’t cover the beauty of hardwood stair treads. The anti-slip wood floor finish runs transparently. Many products are available in different finishes, such as gloss or matte, giving you some options in how the finish looks after application.

The downside to these products is disposal. If you don’t like how the product performs or looks, removing it can be hard or damage your treads.

Although numerous of these finishes are water-based, any scrubbing or use of cleansing agents such as mineral spirits can harm the original finish of your stair treads.

If you opt to proceed with an anti-slip finish, test some on a spare part of the stair tread, or a scrap part of the same species, such as oak, to notice its appearance. If you enjoy the finish, this kind of finish is a great, lasting choice for securing your stairs to keep their realistic look while becoming less slippery.

Pros

• Will last longer than other non-slip options
• Comes in either gloss or matte finish
• Keeps the natural appearance of your wooden steps

Cons

• It May require many coats to achieve an appropriate surface texture
• Once applied, very difficult to remove
• Time-consuming to apply

Anti-Slip Spray

Anti-slip spray for wood stairs is less expensive than a roll-on enemy of slip gets done or cover. Likewise, it is the most straightforward enemy of slip item to apply and is totally straightforward. At last, this item is reasonable.

Be that as it may, remember – you pay for what you get. Large numbers of the paints’ greatest brands sell hostile to slip shower, yet that doesn’t mean this item will endure or give you the outcomes you need. Numerous clients gripe that it shows up of their wood hazier or changes the variety.

Assuming you, as of now, have completion on your wooden advances, expecting a splash on covering won’t change the appearance at all is unreasonable. These splashes can frequently require a few coats. All of that shower will surely influence appearance, regardless of whether the item professes to be “straightforward”.

One more likely issue with this splash is strength. Roll-on enemy of slip completes phenomenal inclusion due to how they are applied. The shower doesn’t ensure a uniform completion, which won’t just influence toughness but also appearance.

The counter slip splash is staggeringly easy to apply, yet it is trying to be predictable. For an extravagant arrangement of completed wooden advances, believing a modest item like an enemy of slip splash would be like having a good time with your immaculate 69 Camaro down a rock street – you simply don’t make it happen.

Pros

• Cheap
• Quick anti-slip solution
• Easy to apply

Cons

• The application involves harmful odours
• Can change the appearance of wood
• Durability is not good

Non-Slip Paint Additives

Assuming that you are searching for non-slip paint, you’ll struggle with tracking down it. Most producers give a packaged non-slip floor paint additive substance to any floor paint. And includes paints for hardwood flooring that will make the surface non-slip.

These added substances are basically a bucket of sand that ties with the paint, making a sandpaper-like surface. Sand is totally harmless when matched with paint, so the added substance doesn’t influence the variety or finish.

You can likewise direct how many enemies of slip added substance you add to your paint. If you need a coarser vibe on your painted surface, you add a piece less of the added substance. Add the whole can or bundle if you need a denser, harsher feel.

Since you would utilize this item with paint, you wouldn’t need to stress over what it would mean to complete your steps since the paint would cover your wooden steps.

Normally, the coarseness would harm the wood underneath over the long haul. In any case, eliminating the paint would expect you to revamp, including sanding, your wooden advances at any rate.

Assuming you intend to paint your means and maintain that they should be against slip, there could be no greater choice than the non-slip paint added substance.

Pros

• You can control the grit level
• Mixes with all types of paint
• Excellent slip-proofing for painted wooden surfaces

Cons

• Once applied, very difficult to remove
• Once applied, very difficult to remove
• Only works with paint

Fix Your Stairs

The standard step aspect is 7 – 11. That implies every step riser ought to be near 7 inches, and the step tracking – the flat surface – ought to be near 11 inches.

While no two arrangements of steps are similar, and these estimations can shift, recently developed homes will have steps estimating precisely 7″ x 11″.

You ought to get out your estimating tape before purchasing any of the items above for those who have a delightful, tricky arrangement of wooden tracks in your more established home. Why? Quite possibly, a portion of your risers or tracks is not uniform.

Indeed, even one riser that is just ½” more limited or taller can bring about individuals stumbling and falling. We underestimate strolling higher up simply because our muscle recollections anticipate that a standard stairwell should be of a similar level. However, take one riser and make it marginally taller. Everything necessary is one brief excursion to send somebody on their back.

However, what to do if your risers or tracks are not uniform? You have a few choices:

Re-try the whole trip of steps

Eliminate the culpable track or riser and use shims or a saw to raise/lower it

Utilize an item above and cross your fingers

I don’t suggest simply allowing an issue, too, as non-uniform steps sit. You or your family could possibly manage it, yet on the off chance that you have an old visitor or basically a visitor who excursions and falls. You are responsible for anything injury they maintain. That injury could cost you far more than another arrangement of uniform step tracks and risers.

Pros

• Will improve stairway appearance
• Must be fixed anyway to re-sell your house
• Provides a permanent solution

Cons

• Invasive – use of stairway may be impeded for awhile
• Could be costly
• It May involve skills beyond your capabilities

End

Whichever choice you decide to make an enemy of slip surface on your wooden steps, simply make certain to follow the headings of the item. Sticking to maker specs will guarantee that regardless of which item you pick, it will seem as though it should look and not ruin the presence of your wooden steps.

Assuming none of these choices suit you, recollect that passing on your steps is dangerous and is an obligation to others in the family. I strongly advise against letting a tricky arrangement of steps be.

A debt of gratitude is for setting aside some margin to peruse this article. I trust it has given you a few thoughts for working on the well-being of wooden steps in your home. If it’s not too much trouble, go ahead and remark beneath or contact us about items or issues you’ve experienced while managing your dangerous wooden advances.

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