help! our hardwood stairs are too slippery!
We recently pulled up the ugly beige carpeting that was on our interior steps. Underneath is hardwood. It looks better than than the horrible rug but now the steps are too slippery for our dogs. I have looked up stair treads but they are all 1. very “country kitchen” looking or 2. made for outdoor use. Can you help us find a fun, modern solution? We love bright colors and modern design. Thanks so much! — Rachel R., Baltimore, MD.
Thanks for your question Rachel! Just last week Angela M. was in Home Depot and spotted something that could work for you. Roppe rubber flooring. Have you ever seen it? It comes in a rainbow of colors, so you can order one that’s modern and bright, and there’s a “stair tread” that has a raised circle patterned — it provides traction and looks mod. Above is a photo from their site — but don’t let the commercial-ness turn you off. It would be fab in a home. Ask at your local Home Depot for prices and how to order.
Does anyone else have stair covering suggestions for Rachel? Let her know here!
Have you asked a hardwood refinisher if they have a suggestion? I can’t imagine that this is an uncommon problem and there maybe some sort of coating that they can apply that would be more tacky and woudl help you to get a good grip on the stair.
We have two dogs, and the first thing i did when moved into our 3 floor loft with two long flights of wood stairs was to order FLOR carpet tiles, cut them in half and use carpet tape to stick them to the stairs- now the FLOR people will tell you not to do this, but we’ve been living with it for 4 years now and it’s worked great! they have stayed on through many crazy puppy frenzies, and almost daily vacuuming.
best of luck.
If you don’t mind painting…you could always mix sand in the paint and paint the tops.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Laia: We thought about that, but the stairs are original to our 1930s house and have been refinished a few times so they can’t really be refinished again and all of the solutions they offered wouldn’t hide the ugliness of the wood.
I am tempted by the treads, painting or FLOR as mentioned above. Thanks!
I love those Roppe treads! LOVE!
If you are looking to keep the hardwood bare then you may want to give this Skid Safe finisher a try.
http://ndclean.com/skidsafe.html
Its a water based sealer that claims to dramatically reduce slip and fall hazards on slick/slippery floorings.