Restoring a wooden staircase?

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SPJ
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Restoring a wooden staircase?

Post by SPJ »

We have a pale beech staircase which is quite a feature of our gite and it's looking a bit worn on the central part of the treads. My husband wants to (as he put's it) "to polish the stairs".

I'm not in favour of polishing stairs as I think it makes them really slippery, especially if (like me) our guests wander round in socks. :shock:

Is there any way I can restore our staircase so that it looks good without making the treads slippery?

Thanks for any help / advice. Sue
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Osmo oil anti-slip here
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Thanks Greenbarn. Looks just what we need.

(Anyone know if I can get this in France? Or something equivalent?) Just answered my own question - found a supplier in France. So Greenbarn thanks again. :)
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

SPJ wrote:Thanks Greenbarn. Looks just what we need.

(Anyone know if I can get this in France? Or something equivalent?) Just answered my own question - found a supplier in France. So Greenbarn thanks again. :)
You’re very welcome!
The standard Osmo oil is gorgeous stuff for most wood and easy to use. One caveat - they do spell it out, but it’s almost impossible to apply it too thinly, and if you put too much on it takes an age to dry.
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

A friend here had the same issue and she sand blasted her stairs. It wasn't a smooth finish due to sand blasting out a bit more of the soft winter growth than the harder summer growth in the growth rings (here's your sad forester fact for the day... it's the opposite for softwoods... the faster growing summer wood is softer... I'll shut up, now!), leaving an attractive ridged effect... which also made it less slippery.
SPJ
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Post by SPJ »

Thanks for the warning greenbarn. And Ecosse sand blasting terrifies me! I think people who do it are very brave. Our builders sandblasted the exterior of our gite when they were restoring it and didn't protect the windows properly. Every window in the place had to be replaced!
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

SPJ wrote:Thanks for the warning greenbarn. And Ecosse sand blasting terrifies me! I think people who do it are very brave. Our builders sandblasted the exterior of our gite when they were restoring it and didn't protect the windows properly. Every window in the place had to be replaced!
Oh noooo ! Hope they paid. My friend didn't have any issues like that... but it was quite a tidy up job afterwards to get rid of all the sand etc.
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Post by SPJ »

Yup. Insurance job for the builder. I don't think the owner of the building business was too pleased!
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