Hardwood stair treads.....

[Darrell Bade]

Need to finish the stairs to the basement shortly. Currently they are 2x's nailed to the stringers.

I was going to finish in hardwood since we had carpet on our stairs where I grew up and sweeping them was a pain.

My wife says carpet because hardwood would be slick if going up or down in sock feet.

What is everyones opinion or experiences. Are hardwood treads slick in sock feet?

[Joshua Layne]

Yes, hardwood is slick in socks, but you can buy adhesive-backed stair tread tape that would solve that problem.

I'm shortly going to be building a ladder for a loft bed, which is admittedly a different application, but I will be putting multiple small dadoes in the top of the stair (running across it sideways) for a little extra grip. You could try a similar idea for your stairs, but the tiny grooves wouldn't mesh with your 'easy to sweep' goal.

josh

[Von Bickley]

What is everyones opinion or experiences. Are hardwood treads slick in sock feet?

Mine are stained oak and I don't have a problem with them being slick.

[Neal Clayton]

i finish floors with waterlox satin, and can confirm that it is in fact not too slick for stairs.

once cured it has just the right amount of sock grip .

[Larry Fox]

I would never consider leaving them just bare hardwood. I had a set made of oak in a house I owned and slipped on them wearing socks. Cracked my head pretty good. Very next day I went out and bought a runner for them. I am finishing my basement as well and want to put hardwood treads in but have already baked a runner into the plan.

[Philip Rodriquez]

+1 on the runner. HW stairs are slick. I slipped a few years ago and had to have shoulder surgery to fix everything.

[Vince Shriver]

I know this: if somebody slipped & hurt themselves, the grief you'd be taking from wifezilla could be much greater than that caused by the injury - and could go on for many moons!

[William Schmitz]

Carpeted steps are safer, and will also help to keep from tracking dirt up into the house.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Food for thought... Play sand and poly? That or very fine glass blasting beads.

Test it out and see if that works out.