Beautiful appearance of the staircase doesn’t always mean that it is comfortable and safe, while these two properties are considered the most important while designing the stairs. The structures can be called harmonious, if the comfortable steps are combined with a great pitch of the staircase and its safety. Metal steps possess all these qualities.

Distinctive characteristics of metal treads

Metal steps are more suitable for the street porch. However, if the design of a premise allows, they look great in the private houses and two-level apartments.

Differences of the metal steps for the porch from the treads made of other materials:

  • Metal is the most durable material for the porch steps. In case of high daily load, it is resistant to blurring and corrosion.
  • Metal grating steps has the highest degree of safety. Special texture of this step allows the water to freely drain, without accumulating and creating the slippery surface.
  • Installation of metal steps doesn’t require special skills, and their care –specific cleaning materials. Such structure can be painted any color, considering the building interior.
  • Metal treads can take any shape – from the common rectangular to the triangular.
  • The price of metal structures is somewhere in between the cost of wooden and stone steps. Considering the durability of such staircase, this is a good investment in the design of your house.

Metal angles: material properties

Any staircases, whether a stone monolithic structure or the one faced with ceramics, must be safe. The most slippery and injurious place is the edge of treads. One can easily slip off it, especially if the staircase is damp or icy. Therefore, edges must be protected with special nozzles.

To increase the safety of movement on the stairs, engineers started to use special metal angles for the steps, made of different alloys.

Angles can be made of different metals. They are chosen based on the interior of the house.

Brass angles make the structure look pompous like a rich ancient building. Brass doesn’t rust, which means that the steps of the structure (due to its “golden” gleam), will create a feeling of noble entourage of the medieval castle. Building design must correspond to this decoration.

Aluminum angles are also durable. However, they are not suitable for any porch. They often have “wood-like”, but the coating falls off quickly, which makes the article look shabby. Their strength and durability don’t suffer from it.

The angles with rubber inserts are necessary in the places with a high risk of injury, such as production halls, ladders on the ships and steps in public transport. The price of rubberized angles is much higher, but they provide guaranteed safety.

Grating

Grating treads suit best for the metal stairs (especially those with the steps laid on the stringers). This type of flooring has an additional benefit in the form of anti-slip teeth. Such steps are attached to stringers through the side plates on the bolts, which saves time for their installation and increases the structural stability.

Metal steps can have different appearance of grating. In the straight stairs, front steps are framed with a special anti-slip edge. This minimizes the risk of accident when going down the metal steps of the porch.

The sides of standard grating structures are protected with hot zinc plating. The steps of winding stairs often look like the openwork grating, which gives them a unique gothic beauty. Openwork forging is often used for the railings and balusters, and simple metal– for the grating steps.

Combination of different styles

As the metal steps for the porch are too cold, they are most frequently used in industry units. Stone is preferable for the strict style of offices, while the owners of private houses often choose wood.

Experimental types of stairs (i.e. combinations of different materials) come into design fashion. Wooden steps framed with metal became very popular, and they have the highest price. They look effective, as every tread of this porch or internal structure lies neatly in the metal frame as in the gem setting.

Builders and designers increasingly pay attention to the metal staircases. They are very diverse, and the ability of metal to take any shape makes them competitive. Given that their price is more than offset by their quality and durability, this is the most popular type of stairs. We ask the readers to evaluate this text or share it.