Main requirements for any staircase are comfort, safety and durability. Oak steps meet all these demands. They are characterized by high strength and excellent decorative properties. In this article, we will consider the types of wooden treads and some of their characteristics.

Operational characteristics

Oak is characterized by high strength. Thanks to that, such elements of staircase:

  • withstand heavy loads;
  • don’t creak;
  • don’t crack;
  • can have smaller thickness than similar products made of soft wood.

We should note that oak steps are characterized by high price. This is due to the price of wood and labor intensity of its processing. Because of its porous structure, the material is difficult to polish. At the same time, the surface is quite rough and anti-slip.

Characteristics of boards

In today’s market, you can find the products made of solid or spliced slats. They are made of bars with a square section with the side of 40 mm. Long bars, glued in width, are used for building the solid slats. Oak steps are characterized by higher reliability and better decorative characteristics.

Shorter elements, interconnected with microchips, are used for spliced slats. They are less aesthetic than solid boards. At the same time, they are suitable for building the treads. It is not recommended to use spliced slats for the load-bearing elements.

If your funds are limited, you should buy solid boards from the wood species whose price is more accessible.

If you use common boards for building treads, they will deform quickly. The thing is glued slats provide a uniform load distribution.

Oak steps have different types according to the cut of slats (which can be tangential and radial). The former highlights the wood pattern. Radial cut provides more uniform structure.

Types of treads

Building the staircase, you will need the oak steps with different shape. They are divided into three types:

  1. march;
  2. invitational;
  3. dancing.

March steps have a rectangular shape. They are used for the straight sections of the staircase. Invitational steps made of oak are placed at the beginning of the staircase. They often have oval shape. Dancing steps are installed in the turning areas. They have the shape of triangle or trapezoid.
The width of wooden tread must be at least 40 mm, while the minimum value for the riser is 18 mm.

Winding staircase looks effective in the interior and allows you to save a lot of space. Dancing steps for the oak stairs make it possible to locate the staircase on a small plot. In this, it is possible to preserve the comfortable inclination angle and size of details.

What is the price of oak stairs?

These models are characterized by high price. Starting price of one step is about $30. Similar elements made of conifers are much more accessible. However, because these are softwoods, the surface of pine, spruce or larch treads is much more vulnerable to abrasion.

Oak steps are safe and durable components of staircase. Over time, wood obtains the dark shade, which makes the structure look noble.
It has a unique combination of functional and decorative characteristics. Share your recommendations on the maintenance of oak stairs. Leave the comments and watch a short video about the usefulness of the choice of wooden treads.