Low maintenance staircase finish

[Chancer]

I am coming to the end of making the 2nd hardwood staircase for the common stairwell that will serve 6 flats, I am very pleased and proud of my work and want to choose a finish to show it to its best.

However due to the amount of traffic and it being me that will have to keep it clean I want to choose something durable, hard wearing and if possible that is not going to show up dirt and/or stains.

I have been batting around the following thoughts and would welcome your comments, the floor to floor heights in my building are very big and these are large staircases, not something that you can whip around in a couple of minutes.

1: Varnish or vitrificator but I have concerns regarding scratches and possibly water being carried in causing slipping, I will have a large set in commercial doormat but I know from experience that people rarely use them.

2: A clear epoxy resin finish, same concerns as above and also not sure how easy it will be to apply, if you get it wrong you are pretty much stuck with the results.

3: Semi-carpetted treads , I have some contract carpet tiles which I used for years in my old office, they are a sort of sandy mud brown colour and are incredibly hard wearing and dirt/stains just do not show on them, in fact I got them from the office of a skip company and the drivers had been traipsing through with muddy boots for years. If I use these then I will rout a half elliptical recess in the stair treads to accept them (a bit like the stick on ones that Lidl sometimes sell) and the front of the tread will be finished with anodised aluminium nosings.

Part of me thinks that solution 3 will be quicker to clean by hoover and that I wont need to do any more with the exposed wood outside of the carpetted centre of the treads, however having only cleaned my own carpetted domestic stairs in the past and never having to clean wooden stairs used by the public I really would like your advice on this, what would you do?

[idun]

We looked into doing our stairs in all hard wood before we ended up tiling and putting hard wood nez de marche. I did the finish on the nez de marche, but obviously for all they have a lot of wear, is a lot less work than doing the whole stair case.

 I'm sure that I looked at V33 antiderapant verni for stairs and I think a few of the good makes, Sadolin? was perhaps another company who make such products and they are expensive but hard wearing or so friends have told me. 

I had also thought about carpet tiles.

 

The most beautiful will be to treat the wood, with a non slip finish. The most hard wearing will be the carpet tiles.

We lived on the first floor and our stairs always got a lot of wear, if it is just to bedrooms it is a little different.

[NormanH]

I had a wooden staircase (from La peyre) which was finished with lasure.

A mistake!

Apart from the question of whether  lasure was a good idea,  it showed all sorts of marks of rubber and scuffs and I was constantly upset that it didn't look as good as at the beginning.

Varnish the stairs if nobody is going to use them [:)]

[Théière]

[quote user="Chancer"]

 I will have a large set in commercial doormat but I know from experience that people rarely use them.

[/quote]

The commercial doormats used on the developments I work on are designed to keep the mat looking good for a long time not trapping dirt/water in any way. Much better in use are the cotton dirt trapper type that are easily washed in a machine, they will stop dirt and wet but won't look as good for as long.

As for varnish, personal choice Dulux diamond glaze (water based) is very easy to use compared to 2 pack and lasts a good long time but it will need re doing as will carpet and anything else.

Non slip granules can be added the the varnish.

Never mind Norman, as long as it's only the finish on your stairs you have to worry about life must be pretty good.

[NormanH]

[quote user="Théière"][quote user="Chancer"]

 I will have a large set in commercial doormat but I know from experience that people rarely use them.

[/quote]

The commercial doormats used on the developments I work on are designed to keep the mat looking good for a long time not trapping dirt/water in any way. Much better in use are the cotton dirt trapper type that are easily washed in a machine, they will stop dirt and wet but won't look as good for as long.

As for varnish, personal choice Dulux diamond glaze (water based) is very easy to use compared to 2 pack and lasts a good long time but it will need re doing as will carpet and anything else.

Non slip granules can be added the the varnish.

Never mind Norman, as long as it's only the finish on your stairs you have to worry about life must be pretty good.

[/quote]

Only my metastases [:P]

[sid]

There was another thread about something similar recently. Lasure is not really meant for horizontal wearing surfaces; it's just not hard enough.

Vitrificateur is the recommneded product but it needs careful preparation (bare wood is best) and it's SO expensive!

In the situation described I would be worried about the traffic. I've just done a staircase recently and it's looking really good and I'm very pleased, but it doesn't get exposed to gritty shoes (just gritty northerners [:D] ). I'd be thinking about some sort of tread covering I think for a staircase serving apartments.

 

[Pommier]

This is what we used on an old, crumbly, worm-eaten staircase

http://www.v33.fr/vitrificateurs/d.-passages-extremes-reg,31.html?&vars=cHJvZHVpdF9pZD0zMg%3D%3D

It came out looking beautiful (and tougher). We used wax effect finish which just had a soft shine.

[Chancer]

Thanks for the comments, I have just bought a job lot of 2 pack epoxy resin varnish (at least I hope thats what it is) from E-bay, I am going to finish the treads, risers and stringers before assembly so as hopefully to avoid runs etc.

I am concerned about the traffic and grit etc but I can always let in some carpet and nosings later on if it doesnt stand up to the wear, if I bit the bullet and did it now I would never know if the time and expenditure would actually have been necessary.

Have you seen the price of stair nosings?! I need 40 of em, 10 of which extra wide for the winders, even in the UK thats a hefty sum.

[mint]

[quote user="NormanH"]

Only my metastases [:P]
[/quote]

I know it's a serious subject and I shouldn't find it funny.  But, it's the way you say "my metastases", as though they are something which you "own" and I suppose you do own them!

However, I do think they sound less frightening because it turns them into something you have some control over!  On the other hand, perhaps not, because I have just tried substituting with "my children" .......![:-))]

Do you think that phrase will sound better in French?  As in "mes metatases" (or whatever metastases is in French) and, hopefully, not many people are going to have to learn what the word is.

[idun]

We made, well, he made our nez de marche. I wanted hard wood ones, so we went and looked at them and when we had been revived with smelling salts, he said, 'I can make them'. So with some sturdy metal and quite suitable for the job which was retreived from the skip at work we then we bought a couple of plateaux of hard wood and he wood worked the shape required on his machine.   I stained them before they were put down and then did the final many coats when they were in place.  It was a lovely job when finished.

So you understand why it was a do it yourself job. They were far too expensive to buy when they could be done chez nous at a fraction of the price.

I remember the aluminium ones being dear too when I was looking at carpet tiles. And if we had decided on them, I reckon that they would have been made at home too, one way or another.

 

 

[Théière]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

[quote user="NormanH"]

Only my metastases [:P]
[/quote]

I know it's a serious subject and I shouldn't find it funny.  But, it's the way you say "my metastases", as though they are something which you "own" and I suppose you do own them!

[/quote]

They even share the same DNA, [:)] still if it keeps Normans mind off the stairs can't be all bad, nothing to get all lymphatic about [:P]

[mint]

Teapot, I swear your jokes are even worse than mine![:D]

[Chancer]

I have already researched and planned the nez de marches although hopefully they wont be needed, they would be aluminium bought in 6 metre lengths from the extruding mill, I would cut them to length and then send them out for anodising.

All this in the UK of course, only in my dreams could something like that which to me is (was) everyday and benign, be possible, practical and/or affordable in France.

[Théière]

[quote user="Chancer"]

Have you seen the price of stair nosings?! I need 40 of em, 10 of which extra wide for the winders, even in the UK thats a hefty sum.

[/quote]

Yes bought some last week to replace broken ones, PVC and aluminium available, where did you go to look?

[Chancer]

My bargain basement resin has arrived, I think its epoxy but as I cant read Finnish I will never know, I have a few samples curing at the moment so I decided to do a google search to find out the best way of applying the stuff and this page came up!!

Fame at last Chancer [:D]

[Théière]

Keep us informed Chancer,

Is THIS any help?

[Chancer]

Thanks for that, it will be very usefull. I had been planning something similar.

I have a few of those foam brushes left but they quickly self destruct, I read elsewhere how to make your own by cutting down rollers.

I did a sample today and left it outside but under cover, it was raining and rather cold, I wanted to see if it would go off or bloom, it was still wet this evening, the rest of the resin in the warm dry workshop went off rock solid very quickly after ' hours had elapsed so things are looking promising.

[Théière]

Plenty of foam brushes on Ebay