Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Mar 29, 2009 7:28 pm We have chosen to go with Sydney Bluegum natural timber floor boards for most of our house however we are having a bit of a dilemma when it comes to the staircase. We have only specified 'hardwood' in our specifications so the builder has provisioned a Vic Ash timber staircase. We are debating whether we stain the staircase to go with our floors or we get the staircase done in natural Sydney Bluegum? We have been warned that the Bluegum stairs will cost 'signifcantly' more and wonder whether we will still get a good look out of staining. Does anyone have any thoughts in terms of looks and maintaining stained wood for a staircase, particularly as it will take quite a bit of traffic? Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 2Mar 29, 2009 9:41 pm I'd advise against staining the Vic Ash as it will never match your S. Blue Gum floors. The builder is ripping you off from the sounds of it - you need to get an exact price off them. Sydney Blue Gum in stair-case sizes is not significantly more than Vic Ash. Sounds more like they don't want the hassle. Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 3Apr 01, 2009 9:49 pm Thanks Dukekamaya! We spoke with a French polisher yesterday and he advised the same. He suggested that it is always best to seal based the natural colour of the timber, particularly for high traffic areas like stairs. He said even though staining does sink into the wood, corners of stairs are prone to ware more vigorously than the rest of the stairs and would eventually expose the Vic Ash's natural colour making it look bad. I was given a $5,500 cost difference between Vic Ash and Sydney Bluegum staircase with 18 steps how does that sound? Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 4Apr 02, 2009 6:51 pm pretty ridiculous, though with timber different states may as well be different countries Do you know the specifics of the staircase? Are the treads 280mmx32mm (or 290mmx35mm) and 1200mm wide or close to that. I'll check prices at work tomorrow Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 5Apr 03, 2009 6:20 pm Thanks Dukekamaya, would really appreciate keeping our builder honest We are going with 280mm x 32mm, general width will be 1000mm however we are curving the bottom of the staircase so the widest pint will be approx 1300mm. There are 18 treads in total. Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 6Apr 06, 2009 9:54 pm Mr Ed We have chosen to go with Sydney Bluegum natural timber floor boards for most of our house however we are having a bit of a dilemma when it comes to the staircase. We have only specified 'hardwood' in our specifications so the builder has provisioned a Vic Ash timber staircase. Can't wait to see some photos of the finished product! I was going to go with the standard Vic Ash staircase and then I saw a sample of the Sydney Blue Gum and now I want that for the staircase and feature lounge floor to match. I was told (by a place that quoted me, lazy so and so's) anything that isn't Vic Ash, just about double the price. They claimed it was due to suppliers using a whole raft of excuses to jack up the price of hardwoods. But either way that would only bring the price slightly above your quoted difference so you're being had for sure! Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 7Apr 07, 2009 8:41 pm Its a problem with being in Victoria as Vic. Ash is really the only hardwood milled and kiln-dried down there. There isn't the local access to other species as there is in the north. That being said its not hard to freight stuff down there. Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 9Jun 08, 2011 11:21 am We've got a Vic Ash staircase and blackbutt flooring. Should we stain the staircase to match blackbutt or leave it natural? Re: Natural vs staining for timber staircase? 10Jun 09, 2011 1:08 pm You wont get the Vic Ash to match the colour of the blackbutt through staining, largely because of the different grains in the two timbers. The original colour of the two is not that different anyway. And also remember that from a floorsanders perspective sanding and coating stairs is an exponential cost as it takes so much time to get right. The less work you need done on the stairs the better. Staircases and sausages. Should thou wish to keep thy palate sweet for sausages, avert thine eyes from their crafting. 14 3236 Hi, I have an area of zincalume cladding encasing a number of external downpipes. Unfortunately one of them has been permanently stained by some diluted phosphoric acid -… 0 549 Not sure if that works? I was told the issue is the headspace clearance requirement on step 4. My builder is proposing shifting the beam 310mm towards the kitchen...I'm… 2 1331 |