Stair tread
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A stair tread is the horizontal portion of a set of stairs on which a person walks. The tread can be composed of wood, metal, plastic, or other materials. In residential settings, treads can be covered in carpeting. Stair treads can come in non-slip varieties, particularly in commercial or industrial locations.[1]
Mid flight treads
There are a number of different styles of tread:
- Straight or flier
- A standard oblong shaped tread. used in a straight flight.
- Diminishing flier
- Set into the straight section of flight before a turn, with one end narrower than the other Used to change the pitch of the handrail before a 180º turn.[2]
- Winder
- wider at one end, used to turn the flight.
- Kite winder
- A quadrilateral shaped tread, used in the corner of a turn: hence the kite name.
Feature or starting treads
Source:[3]
These treads are used to embellish the start of a flight of stairs, they may have either a straight front to them or a commode/curved front to enhance them further.
- Curtail
- An ornate tread that follows the spiral of a volute handrail, the back of the tread will cut into itself and then return along the flight.
- Bullnose
- A straight tread with the front corners rounded off.
- "D" ends
- So called as they look like a D shape attached to the end of the tread. A common style that may be carried up the flight for a number of treads.
- Tower
- The tower feature is a cylindrical addition to the front corner of a tread, intended for setting a newel post onto, the tower may be positioned dependent on the handrail termination.
- Commode front
- The addition of a curve to the front of a tread to create a more decorative feature.
