Stair Flooring near you

The right approach depends on what's under the current finish, how even the steps already are and how much extra height the stair can take.

Most stair flooring leaves the structure alone, but added thickness changes step heights unless it's planned. Capping every tread raises all the middle steps by the same amount, so their risers stay equal, yet the bottom step gets taller and the top step shorter unless the floors at each end rise by the same amount. The one step that differs from the rest is where people misstep, because the body expects every rise in a flight to match.

Stairs in houses fall under Part 9 of the National Building Code of Canada or the provincial code based on it, which regulates the rise and run of steps and how uniform they must be; the staircases page explains which edition applies. Rather than relying on a rule of thumb, the installer should measure the whole flight, plan tread, landing and floor thicknesses so the finished risers stay even, and confirm with your municipality whether a permit is needed. When the numbers don't work, replacing treads usually solves it better than stacking another layer.

The nosing is where the foot lands going down, so it takes the most wear and carries the most risk. On new or capped stairs it's either part of a solid tread or a separate moulding fastened to the front edge, and it should overhang each riser by the same amount and feel solid when you press on it with your heel.

The Public Health Agency of Canada's falls-prevention guide calls for solid handrails on both sides of a stairway, warns that scatter mats are tripping hazards unless they're non-slip, and advises using the non-skid kind if you wax floors. On stairs, grip starts with the finish: a satin or matte coat gives socks and slippers more hold than high gloss, and treads should never be waxed or polished to a shine.

A runner leaves a strip of finished wood showing on each side of the carpet, so it suits stairs whose treads and risers are worth seeing. Because those edges stay visible, the wood is refinished or painted before the runner goes down, and the runner has bound or serged edges rather than a raw cut.