6 Issues to Keep an Eye Out for Wooden Stair Maintenance at Home

Wooden stairs are indeed a unique, elegant and classic pick for a lovely and comfortable house. There are many styles you can use it with. Especially if you are aiming for custom home designs, you have the freedom to make your wooden stairs as reflective to your personality as you want and as convenient as you need.

Definitely, wooden stairs have many benefits to come up with a beautiful house, and they go beyond the visual pleasantness. Along with these good stuff, bear in mind that proper maintenance is highly important. Although stairs made of wood are tough and durable, there are things you must keep an eye out for, so that you can be sure that your stairs last long and safe to use.

Below are 6 issues you must be mindful about when it comes to wooden stairs.

[1] Creaking Sounds

You usually hear creaking stair sounds from suspense and horror movies, when the place is quiet, and it seems like something’s going to pop out to scare and shock you. Well, in real life, creaking sounds from your stairs are just evidence that there’s a serious problem with it that needs mending.

Joints might have gotten loose. A gap between the riser and the tread might have developed due to constant and/or irresponsible usage. When the timber treads get dented or experience shortening, you will hear creaky sounds from every step you make on your wooden stairs. Wear-and-tear on the parts and materials of the wooden staircase is one of the major causes of squeaky stairs. 

Aside from using specific adhesives for wood, applying lubricants and screwing down problematic treads are also effective ways to silent your creaking stairs. 

[2] Powdery Dustings

Have you noticed black or white dusty particles on your stairs, particularly on the joints and corners of it? They might not just be mere dust because of lack of cleaning. They could be coming from parasite invasion. 

Termites, ants, beetles, bugs and other parasites that live and feed on wooden materials are among your baddest enemies against your peaceful stair maintenance. Powdery dustings are the outcomes when these animals attack wood. You will also see their eggs attached on the wood, especially on the hidden surfaces. 

Shield your house and your wooden staircase from these issues by scheduling regular proper cleaning and investigating it to check if there are any accumulating powdery deposits by pests.

[3] Damaged Nosings

When nosings get damaged, one of the things that might happen is that it does not become helpful and ideal for wet feet. This can lead to slips and trips on your stairs. This is the same with loose nosings. 

For you to avoid accidents on your stairs, make sure there is proper installation, and once you notice that the nosings have gotten a bit loose, do not stand there and wait for the problem to grow bigger. Act upon it immediately to avoid increasing the problem that might harm people using your stairs.

[4] Weakening Handrail

Handrails are very vital portions of stairs. You use them to support  you as you go up and down your house. Sometimes, handrails get abused by recklessly holding onto them, by leaning on to them mindlessly or by shaking them, especially when kids are too playful or just bored. 

Weakening handrails must be paid attention to because safety becomes at risk here. When they are already wobbly and somehow movable, there’s a huge issue with it, and it might lead to injuries.

Handrail replacement is the key. You can seek professional help from carpenters or custom home builders for the best repair skills.

[5] Shaky Post

When you have been using that staircase for a long time now, there’s a tendency that the post becomes shaky when you hold onto the handrail. Time passing by, lengthy usage and old age cause wood to rot naturally. Also if the wooden stairs’ post gets exposed to chemicals that shorten its lifespan, the wood might rot earlier than expected. 

The post should be replaced without hesitation. Holding on to your handrail will not be safe at all when the post is already wobbly.

[6] Cracks

Cracked areas on your wooden stairs might be caused by dragging big and heavy furniture and materials through it or by impactful dropping of items to it. Structural movement could also be a culprit to these damages.

When you see the treads or the risers are cracked, know that they have to be removed immediately and replaced by a new set. In that way, you are preventing further wreckage throughout your stairs. 

Eye Out for Your Wooden Stairs

Your wooden stairs can be made even better and useful in many ways and throughout many days and circumstances as long as proper maintenance is observed. It’s not just about choosing a wonderful design and structure, but most crucially about being wise in knowing whether or not there might be damages.

Be aware that these things which you should keep an eye out are usually not instantly noticed and are killing your wooden staircase silently. That’s why you should definitely keep a sharp eye out there before a greater breakage occurs to it!