A stair tread is the horizontal portion of a set of

stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

on which a person walks. The tread can be composed of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

, 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.

Styles of tread

There are a number of different styles of tread:

Mid flight treads.

;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. ;Winder.: wider at one end, used to turn the flight. ;Kite winder.: A

quadrilateral In Euclidean geometry, geometry a quadrilateral is a four-sided polygon, having four Edge (geometry), edges (sides) and four Vertex (geometry), corners (vertices). The word is derived from the Latin words ''quadri'', a variant of four, and ''l ...

shaped tread, used in the corner of a turn: hence the kite name.

Feature or starting treads.

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.

USAB & ADA compliance

According to the United States Access Board, stair treads in buildings shall have uniform tread depths that are 11 inches, or 280 mm, at minimum. Treads are not permitted to have a slope steeper than 1:48. All stair tread installations must comply with Regulation 302 of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The regulation states that the surface of the readmust be firm, stable, and slip-resistant.

Notable sets of stair treads

The Dylan's Candy Bar flagship location features a stair case consisting of 53 resin stair treads and three landings that are embedded with real candy and equipped with inserted abrasion strips. China's first children's design museum, Kids Museum of Glass, has alternating black and white stair treads on its central staircase, earning the nickname "The Piano Staircase". As part of the Underground Shopping Center Public Art Project, the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation built a

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

staircase in the underground passage at Euljiro 1-ga Station. Each step lit up and played a note as it was walked on. IDEO Labs' interns created a musical staircase during summer of 2011. Each tread played a different sound when stepped on.

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

students turned a Hackerman Hall staircase into a piano, with a new note per step. The Hopkins Robotics Club modified the staircase so the treads played the C scale.

References

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Stairs Stairs Stairways Architectural elements Building engineering Safety codes