What kind of wood for hand rail and steps?

12 years ago

I love that dark dark almost black hand railing on a staircase. I'm not talking about paint, but that real dark stained look.

I know it's not oak because you don't usually see grain in the wood I'm thinking about.

Anybody know what it is? And if I can challenge you a little more, do you think that this mysterious wood is more expensive than oak?

Same question about the stair treads, I don't want to see that oak grain, so what wood am I thinking about?

Thanks so much.

Bee

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Comments (9)

lascatx
12 years ago
I'm seeing hickory stained dark. It has a stronger grain similar to but different from oak. Ipe is a dark wood -- I've seen it nearly black, but was not sure if that was natural or stained. Sounds pretty!
cindyloo123
12 years ago
It sounds like you are talking about walnut or mahogany. Either way, if it doesn't have much grain, it is going to cost more than Oak. As wood goes, Oak is at the low/inexpensive end.
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Fori
12 years ago
Do you mean that stuff from the teens and 20s in old bungalows and arts & crafts style homes? In Tudor revivals and whatnot? Ask the old house forum or woodworking.

I knew what it was in my old house and forgot. Possibly fir? Maybe that was just the doors and not the moulding--they weren't quite as dark. I don't know if modern fir would be hard enough.

To mimic it in my old house, my wood guy used poplar to replace some baseboards. Stained the heck out of them. Looked about right. I'm not sure what was on our dark railings and stringers, but the treads themselves were of course light oak like the floors.
patty_cakes
12 years ago
If you're going to use a very dark stain, IMO, it doesn't matter what wood you use. Just don't use oak if you're not trying to 'capture' the look of the grain as it's way too expensive. ;o)
palimpsest
12 years ago
My floors are almost black and they are oak, They just need to be stained the right way. You could even use aniline dye, if you wanted jet black, I believe.
ellenm08
12 years ago
I did a little research on houzz and found this pic. is this what you're looking for?

[contemporary staircase design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-staircase-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_745~s_2103) by boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors
kateskouros
12 years ago
our rails and stairs are walnut, same as our floors. we didn't stain them (i think staining walnut might be some kind of sin) so the color is rich and dark but not as dark as i think you're looking for...
{{gwi:1408267}}
tinycastles
12 years ago
We did not used a painted/stained combo, but strictly stained. Disclaimer: We did not stain anything ourselves, but paid a finisher to do it before install.

We used 'rustic' cherry stained quite dark for all our interior trim, including our wood handrails. Since the entire 1st floor minus office is 'rustic' Maple, Treads and risers are also Maple, stained the same dark color. Balusters are wrought iron. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the darkest stain possible before looking black) our cherry trim is probably a 7. Grain pattern is present but not overwhelming, it tends to be tighter on cherry than oak, hickory, or walnut.

Our Cherry is not red-hued whatsoever, because its too dark. We had no issue with staining Maple, even though I have heard some on here mention it is impossible to stain Maple dark because it is such a hardwood. A good finisher will know what to do and should have no issues.

I say 'rustic' because we requested wood with knots and such, to add more character and we wanted the cherry to match better with our knotty alder interior doors.
HomeMaker
12 years ago
In my neck of the woods, gumwood was very common in houses of the 1920's & 30's.
It's not a terribly dark wood, but over the years, when left to patina on its own, it does develop a darker shade, certainly not black, though.