Maple or Oak stair treads?

[Brian Kent]

Our stairs are being rebuilt. Wonderful to see a careful master carpenter do his stuff.

It is about time to order the treads. On both ends of the staircase is Brazilian Cherry composite flooring. The treads will be stained to match the color of the floors.

Would you use oak (assuming red oak) or maple flooring?

I understand I need to do color-matching on a sample, but I am thinking about the next 20 years of wear and tear. Will stain go deeper into the grain on oak or hard maple? Is one more prone to chipping over the years? Anything else I should be thinking of?

The fact that I am asking this question means that it is a toss-up in many ways.

Thanks for your experiences.

[Jim Becker]

I would personally find the maple to be more compatible with the cherry than the oak because of pore size and typical grain pattern. However, you'll need to use a dye to color the maple; a pigment based stain isn't going to work well for that species because there's nothing for the pigment to grab onto. Oak, on the other hand, takes a pigment stain beautifully because of the big open pores. Of course, it then looks like oak. :)

[Mel Fulks]

The floor sounds like it's dark ,and I've always thought floors ,stair rail,and stair treads should be dark. But risers painted.
If it is a dark color I would favor the oak just because I think the big pores give it a little more traction ,even through the varnish. But I have not tested....just feel a little steadier on the oak.

[Cary Falk]

I just went through this. Bought some white oak thinking I could match the color. The grain was a dead ringer. Found out that whatever I did the oak would be too dark an not match color wise. Took a piece of hard maple and wiped some stain on it and the color is a dead ringer after the flooring poly. I suggest get a piece of each and determine which one you can match the color best. Coat it with a poly designed for floors.

[Brian Kent]

The risers will be the same color white as the walls.

[Jon Nuckles]

I don't know about the composite flooring, but the Brazilian cherry (jatoba) hardwood floors in my last place had an open grain appearance. The grain was nothing like oak or maple, though. Can't help with the color matching question.

[John Lanciani]

Why not just use Jatoba and have a perfect match? Way better in my opinion than trying to make something else look the same.

[Tim Bueler]

Why not just use Jatoba and have a perfect match? Way better in my opinion than trying to make something else look the same.


That's what I was wondering, too!

[Jim Becker]

Why not just use Jatoba and have a perfect match? Way better in my opinion than trying to make something else look the same.
Um...yes, if that's an option, absolutely. My previous answer was based only on the two species mentioned.

[Brian Kent]

Following through and checking on the additional cost.

[Jon Nuckles]

I assumed that maple and red oak were available as a standard item and jatoba would be a custom order.

[Bill Orbine]

Just google Jatoba stair treads..... plenty to be found.

[peter gagliardi]

Jatoba treads should only run about $200.00 more for the whole staircase.
By the time you try to stain, and then have to fix anything that chips or wears, you will be way ahead with the real thing.

[Randall J Cox]

I don't think you have to worry about wear. I remember going up some timber stairs in an old castle in Germany that were plenty worn down, downright dangerous in fact. They were the original timber stairs from probably 400 years ago. Took that long to wear them down... Randy