Interior Stairs

[oldawg]

I have been reading and re-reading posts lately concerning interior deck covering. I have finally decided to go with carpet in the living areas and Lonseal in the Heads/Galley areas. My boat presently has carpet on the stairs and that seems to be the place that gets worn and dirty. Has anyone gone with wood and if so, how do you manage to make it non-skid without looking like non-skid. I was just on a new Grand Banks with some sort of black rubber strips inset into the wood. Looked good and functional but I have no idea how to replicate that.

Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[bobk]

There is a black self stick non-skid available at Home depot which can be cut to size. I have used it on outside ladders quite successfully. It ought to be fine inside too so long as there are no waxes etc on the wood.

However, I have carpet on my stairs and find it to still look fine after 6 years. It is light beige in color. The key is to select very high fiber density and short pile. And of course a cleanable polyester fiber. The new 3GT fiber from DuPont is said to be the best. (disclaimer, I used to work for DuPont and they pay my retirement.) I should add we leave our shoes on deck to minimize interior dirt.

Bobk

 

[MikeP]

One way to do it...

I did our salon-galley stairs in the same Amtico teak/holly that I used for the galley/passageway/heads/bow cabin/part of the salon.

I put a 1/4" "L" teak rail at the edge of each step. It works really well and looks good for the use as well.

 

[Angela]

I pulled off all of the carpet on my stairs and put a teak skin over the existing plywood that matches my walls. Then, I put a teak "L" on the edge to finish off the raw edges. I used "Ultimate Sole", high gloss, to finish them off and six years later, not a bit of wear on the finish and I've done nothing in terms of maintenance for them. Given as I live on the boat, those stairs see a lot of traffic. I don't have non-skid on them, but the "L" piece tends to grab the your foot and prevent sliding. I have never found the stairs to be slippery and no one has ever fallen down them, for any reason, yet. That Ultimate Sole is some great stuff.

 

[Nonchalant1]

Our stairs were done in solid oak flooring with the rest of the entire boat. The leading edge was an oak strip with a small amount of channeling. Not slippery and lasted 8 years still looking perfect.

Doug

 

[SereneWarrior]

Refinished my stairs w/ a synthetic dark Caribbean cherry that was well matched to the surrounding teak bulkheads and, like the others here, fitted an "L" shaped crss-section of trim to the stair edges. This does a great job of preventing any sort of slipping on the stairs.

 

[Pascal]

I pulled the carpet off my galley stairs a few years ago then replaced the plywood s
risers with mahogany and the steps with Jatoba

I made the steps removable to have extra storage.

Big improvement and worth the work. Honnestly I don't remember what I used to finish the wood... I think it was a mat varnish on the mahogany risers and just oil on the Jatoba steps

Jatoba is an often overlooked hardwood, it looks very nice, at a fraction of the cost of teak or even mahogany

I ll try to post pictures..

 

[oldawg]

I like the Jatoba idea with slight grooves....could be done on a table saw. Then I could skip the non-skid part. I have a maple interior but am going with teak and ebony lonseal.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JATOBA-Land...eal-Foot-Stair-Parts-MADE-ORDER-/130573292052

 

[SeaWhisper]

Same here! Pulled the carpet off and replaced with hardwood soles, and tiled the back with 4" squares. I used a light tan, 1" non skid tape cut to fit. No problems here after 3 years. I'll upload pictures here in a couple of hours.

 

[Pascal]

here they are... the space under the steps isnt' very big but perfect for plastic boxes for small supplies like hardware, electrical, etc...

 

[OBXTucker]

here they are... the space under the steps isnt' very big but perfect for plastic boxes for small supplies like hardware, electrical, etc...

View attachment 11854View attachment 11855

Looks like the perfect place for small arms storage! Ok, I digress..
The stairs to the master stateroom are hardwood/teak and have been finished with a "rough" surface. The previous owner did these and I'm not sure of what was used, but I'm continually amazed at how well they've held up and prevent slipping. I don't have access to uploading photos while we're cruising this weekend, but will take some pics Sunday and post them.

Replaced forward stairway carpet 18 months ago and it's already wearing/stained.....

 

[MikeP]

"here they are... the space under the steps isnt' very big but perfect for plastic boxes for small supplies like hardware, electrical, etc..."

That's pretty slick - no such thing as too much storage space on a boat! (And then we wonder why our top speed at WOT isn't what it should be!)

 

[oldawg]

The stairs to the master stateroom are hardwood/teak and have been finished with a "rough" surface. The previous owner did these and I'm not sure of what was used, but I'm continually amazed at how well they've held up and prevent slipping. .....

Probably should have been more clear in my original post. The technique or product to get that "rough" surface is what i am looking for.