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Hi guys,
Decided to face my carpeted stairs with retro treads. I was told that the staircase in my recently built townhouse was mortised together in a factory somewhere and shipped to the jobsite. The stairs are pine, closed in on both sides with a knee wall. The pro who installed my ¾” Brazilian Cherry floors was not interested in the job when I asked him about it. He said that it would be too expensive and required very precise cuts. A company in South Carolina was offering a $55 sale online on 36" prefinished Brazilian Cherry retro treads (usually $91). The retro steps are ¾” solid wood with a 1” bullnose and an aluminum oxide finish. I ordered 24 retro treads, 4 landing treads, and a $100 jig. I was going to make risers myself out of ¼” mdf painted glossy white.
I am really disappointed in the treads I received, and the company has conceded there are manufacturing defects, agreeing to replace 8 of the 24. I hope you will share your informed opinions with me so that I don’t complain to the vendor about things where they actually are meeting industry standards.
I expected the treads to have a smooth as glass finish and to have some gloss, since that is how most flooring is in stores and how my BC floors are. But the finish on these treads does not fill in the grain, leaving a rough texture and no gloss. These BC treads are markedly less attractive than my BC floor and I am concerned the textured surface will trap grime. I have attached a picture of one of the steps so you can see what I mean.
The finish affects all 24 steps and 4 landing pieces. The company responded, “Our aluminum oxide finish does typically provide a relatively smooth texture to the treads. The gloss of our finish is actually a medium to low gloss and although the finish may seem thin on our treads, this is actually a part of our finish's characteristics. Our treads are also designed to maintain a slight texture as a safety application to prevent slipping from occurring.” Does that ring true?
Also, I am seeing some white specs on the new landing pieces. Any idea what this is? I’m thinking that the finish did not penetrate the entire surface of the piece? I'll try and upload a pic if I can.
Although the finish is what bothered me most, there were lots of other problems with these steps too. They were well packed and did not suffer any damage in shipping but still arrived pretty beat up. I submitted photographs of minor and serious flaws for 22 of the 24 retro steps to the company. In most cases where they agreed to replace the retro step it was because there is a split in the wood that extends far enough across the tread that trimming it off makes the step too short.
The company largely dismissed the other issues I found with the boards but I am still concerned about these.
Of the problems they dismissed:
1. Many of the steps had shorter splits in the end of the board, less than 1” long but typically going most or all the way through the ¾” board. These splits could be trimmed off but my concern is that whatever forces caused them to appear will cause them to reappear after I have trimmed and glued it to my stairs. The company responds “Most often these splits are noticed on the rough lumber and are left attached to the tread in order to leave you with a little extra lengths of tread to work with… You expressed concern in your email that the split indicates the treads are not stable and will reappear once installed. This will not be an issue with these treads once they have been installed, the splits you are seeing is actually present in the rough lumber before the tread is assembled and is not typically something that occurs during the manufacturing process or develop afterwards. The splitting should not continue in the tread as long as there are no issues with moisture present at the job site and once the treads are secured to a sub-tread.” Does that sound reasonable to you guys?
2. Frosted splotches the size of a quarter or larger on the surface. The company says, “The white residue you are seeing in the finish is actually a by-product of the finishing process. This issue can be quickly remedied by using a hardwood floor cleaner such as Bona Kemi…” which they offer to send to me free. I already had some and it helped out but beneath the splotches the wood has been badly scoured by something and there is still a very visible blemish. I guess my question here is if this is common?
3. There are lots of tool dents, abrasians, and scratches. The company says these flaws, “appears to be very minor and will not be noticeable on the tread when viewed from a standing position.” Is that the industry standard? These flaws are clearly visible holding the step at book-distance, but I agree they probably would not be individually noticeable if you were standing on the tread and looking down at it. But these little issues add up and the steps look worn right out of the box.
The company also says this, “Most of our customers are medium-to-large sized stair builders who perform additional prep-work to our products before they install them & aren't necessarily concerned with the initial appearance; as long as the product performs as expected. We have learned over the years that when working with individual craftsmen, such as yourself, there can be an initial disappointment when they notice issues that at first glance, appear to be glaring defects.” Any idea what they’re referring to regarding “additional prep-work”. These are prefinished materials. I did not expect to need to do anything but install them. What do pros do?
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