How To Make Stair Treads Non-Slippery?

Stairs treads, no matter what they’re made of, tend to wear out after years of use and become slippery. Be it wooden, bamboo, marble, tile, or even laminated stair treads, they always become prone to slips over time and contribute to thousands of painful slip-and-fall accidents every year. Sometimes, even the coatings or finishes on brand-new stair treads are slippery. 

The key to fixing slippery stairs is increasing the traction on every step. For instance, hardwood floors are widely used in many homes across the country. While these floors are easy to clean and add considerable aesthetic value to homes, they are also extremely slippery. So, should homeowners give up using hardwood floors? Absolutely not! They simply need to make their hardwood stairs less slippery by adding traction to them. 

There are many efficient ways of adding traction to slippery stairs. Using non-slip stair treads is the most effective option. However, there are other methods of making the surfaces of stairs rougher by adding traction. Bear in mind – installing handrails on your staircases is highly important, irrespective of how non-slippery your stairs are. In addition to that, here are some safe and effective ways of making stair treads non-slippery.

Using Anti-Slip Adhesive Stair Treads :

The best way of getting non-slip stair treads is by applying anti-slip adhesive tapes on each stair. You’ve probably seen one of these tapes before. Most stairwells in commercial buildings use these tapes to prevent busy commuters from slipping. However, smaller or residential stairwells usually don’t require commercial-grade anti-slip adhesive treads. You can buy anti-slip adhesive treads for residential purposes from any local store. Plus, the adhesive tapes used in commercial buildings aren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing. Since most people in commercial buildings wear shoes while commuting, commercial treads are also much coarser. Their coarse and sandpaper-like texture may tear up your feet if you tread on them bare feet. 

Residential Use :

Installing high-quality non-slip stair treads in residential spaces is a very easy process. Anti-slip treads efficiently thwart slips by introducing a sense of roughness to the surfaces of the stairs. Their thick and rough texture creates just enough friction to prevent slips. But, unlike commercial adhesive tapes, they’re not as uncomfortable on bare feet. Plus, these tapes are available in transparent colours. Unless you’re actively looking to purchase coloured adhesive tapes, transparent tapes will almost look invisible to the eyes.

Installing Anti-Slip Adhesive Treads :

Installing adhesive anti-slip adhesive treads is very easy. Planning to get Non-Slip Stair Treads to Prevent Falling from Stairs? Here’s how you install them – 

• Materials and Tools Needed – hand rollers, rubber/vinyl adhesives, linoleum knives, epoxy caulk, nails, hammers, underlayment compounds, and non-skid treads. You may not even require all of these tools and materials, but having them in your home doesn’t hurt! 
• Preparing the Stairway – Before installing high-quality non-slip stair treads, you first need to ensure there aren’t any loose steps or steps with cracks, holes, depressions, etc. Both the step surfaces and underlayment compounds also need to be clean. Also, store your treads and adhesives in room temperature conditions as exposure to heat may cause them to lose their adhesive properties.
• Cutting the Treads – Treads need to be trimmed to fit each step. Use a linoleum knife to get super-clean cuts. Trim the edges of the treads with the knife so that the fit is tight and strong. 
• Installing the Treads – After ensuring there aren’t any air spaces between the steps, start installing one adhesive tread at a time. Push each tread firmly but gently. The goal is to make the application as tight as possible. Lastly, roll the treads with hand rollers to make them as smooth as possible.

Details You Need to Be Careful :

Achieving perfection while installing adhesive stair treads is always difficult. To install them perfectly straight, homeowners need to be wary of these minute details – 

• Wooden stairs may have natural cracks. Avoiding air bubbles on such surfaces is impossible. 
• If you have perfectly clean stairs, reconsider using strong adhesives. When they’re peeled off, they leave residues.
• Re-applying these treads every few years after cleaning them properly is the best strategy. 

Installing Carpets :

Carpets can make stairs less slippery and attractive. As long as homeowners invest in a high-quality carpet, they can be lovely additions to their home decor. You’ll have to pick between stair runners and carpet stair treads.

Stair runners don’t cover the entire width of each stair and cover only their central regions. Thankfully, each stair tread is covered. So, the less-slippery effect is apparent. Plus, these carpets protect wooden floors from damage. Multi-storey homeowners will also love the noise reduction these carpets provide. However, installing stair runners is more complicated than installing adhesive anti-slip treads. Plus, there are consistent cleaning requirements. 

Carpet stair treads are separate carpet pieces that need to be installed individually onto each stair. They’re much easier to install. However, the stairs need to be clean, and the application process needs to be perfect (the use of carpet tape is involved in this process) for carpet stair treads to create the desired effect. 

Irrespective of which lane you pick while taking the ‘carpet route,’ always install low-pile carpets that don’t slide or ‘bunch up’ unlike high-pile carpets. You can also Give Your Stairs A Safety Net with Non-Slip Stair Treads and carpets. Combining these two processes will make your stairs completely slip-proof!

Meet Building Codes :

Slip-and-fall accidents are likelier to happen on stairs if homeowners don’t adhere to the latest building codes. Some basic requirements include – 

• Ensuring the stairs have enough depth. 
• The distances between stairs shouldn’t be too big, you’re putting yourself and people in your home at risk (at least 36 inches wide). 
• Tread depth mustn’t be less than 10 inches.
• All staircases must have handrails at least on one side. 

These methods are guaranteed to make your stairs less slippery. More importantly, your home will feel much safer. Even after taking these steps, homeowners must always be careful while climbing up or down stairwells!