# Dogs slipping and falling on Hardwood Stairs



## ggd (Apr 8, 2009)

In our old home I installed a runner. It had brass rods installed at the base of each step and was secured at the top and bottom. It covered the center of the steps but you could still see the wood on each side. It also looked good and we got a lot of complements on the steps. I removed the carpet and installed hardwood myself along with the new banister and runner.


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

How about a runner just down the middle of the stairs from top to bottom?


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## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Our stairs going to the upper level of our house are also hardwood. Molson seems to have learned how to work them pretty good without falling or slipping. The stairs to the basement have a black vinyl tread thing on them from the prior owners and it is so tacky (ugly, rather than sticky ). As for myself, I find the hardwood slippery on the stairs, so we are looking at sort of carpeting the stairs too. All of the floors in our house are either hardwood, ceramic, or laminate so we don't want to fully carpet the stairs, but we want to put something like either this: 










or this:










for both sets. I think it would be a nice compromise and I don't think that it would interfere very much with your living room flooring choice.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I had hardwood stairs in my last house. I fell down them more than my dogs, I like to walk around in my socks.

My Great Pyr had slid down them a couple times, and I noticed his fur on his feet was too long. I trimmed them down, and he appeared to have more traction.


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## ggd (Apr 8, 2009)

esSJay said:


> Our stairs going to the upper level of our house are also hardwood. Molson seems to have learned how to work them pretty good without falling or slipping. The stairs to the basement have a black vinyl tread thing on them from the prior owners and it is so tacky (ugly, rather than sticky ). As for myself, I find the hardwood slippery on the stairs, so we are looking at sort of carpeting the stairs too. All of the floors in our house are either hardwood, ceramic, or laminate so we don't want to fully carpet the stairs, but we want to put something like either this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What I did was like the first picture but the runner was different and I had small brass rods at the back of the steps. The good thing is you can get the runners so many different colors and when installed with the brass rods correctly it stays in place. Also if it starts to look bad or you change your mind about the color it’s not hard to change it out.


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## jmamom (Dec 3, 2009)

I had the same worries with my hardwood stairs when we brought Josie home in November. A couple of years ago I bought some oval carpet treads with a non slip backing from Lillian Vernon. I never put them down before because they aren't the most attractive, but I held onto them in case I changed my mind. So when we got Josie, I knew she'd need them. They work great, and they really do stay put. Not sure if they still carry them, but you could check.


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## zeke11 (Jul 21, 2009)

When we moved into our "old" house 19 years ago, it had wall to wall carpet in the living room that matched the carpet on the open staircase. After 17 years of kids and pets, the carpeting in the living room was trashed. We pulled it up and had the oak hardwood refinished and polished and love it. But we left the carpeting on the stairs. It really looks ok and is much safer than the bare wood on the stairs.

Kris


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

We put carpet stair treads down when Shadow had his hip surgeries. Both Shadow and Tucker do very well on the stairs. I have 3 sets of 6 stairs that they do daily.


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

You could add another coat of polyurethane the which you have added a non slip/ anti-slip additive. Tthe additives come in many different sizes/coarseness. 
Adding another coat of poly would not be difficult; the sanding and prep work was the really hard part.

Check with your local hardward / building supply store and see what options they have.

There is also a clear stick-on stair tread that gives traction and would probably not be very noticeable.

Good luck.


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## cham (Feb 21, 2008)

We went thru a few sites and decided on the double stick tape stair treads. The hard part was deciding on color and patterns, because I have no idea what we are going to do with the living room, or when. So we went as simple and basic as possible. shades of beige.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Another option might be a boat product made by 3M. Check with a boat supply store in your area. It is called Safety Walk Tread. It comes "clear" and is available in 1", 2" and 4" widths. Yous can get the length custom cut to size as it comes on a roll.
Here is a link to the product on a website.
http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/346-safety-walk-non-skid-tread-clear-2-hd-from-3m-products.html


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

We actually used some sort of tack to hold ours down. DH didn't want sticky stuff on the wood and when I replaced the treads we couldn't really tell where the tacks went in.

I'd like to try the above on my deck stairs. Our decking is like ice in the winter.


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