For my stair treads, I used 4 coats of poly. Most people use 3 coats. If I was doing it again, it would be 5 coats. Did it myself and had the luxury of time available for the process. Coat and let dry for a week, sand smooth, remove dust and coat again-- drying for a week each time. Still looks good after 8 years of use. And to make the finishing MUCH easier, the newels and balusters were installed after the treads were finished. Fill nail holes AFTER the first coat. Filling before the first coat may show "shadows" around the nail locations.

Thanks so much...We're using fir for trim and doors, so maybe we should just stick with that. That for the risers, too? Would it look bad to have it not connect to the floor color in any way?

Lilyfinch, if it's just a few steps going in and out of your house, you can build, or buy, a dog ramp. Look on Craigslist. Someone is always selling one somewhere. The neoprene of indoor/outdoor rugs can feel slippery, but I've not had a problem with the dogs slipping on the braided treads I put on my steps. but then, I have only two steps, plus the floor at the top, on which I don't have a tread, not an entire staircase. If it's really just for the dog, I'd get treads. They're a LOT cheaper than a runner. A runner you either have to have the right tools to install it correctly yourself, or hire someone to install it. If they're not installed correctly, they are a serious slipping hazard. With treads, you just put them down with double-sided tape and a rug pad yourself, and then you can just take them up in the future if you want to do so. Any wood stairs w/o carpeting should be treated with anti-slip stuff so people in socks don't slip and fall. I have a very tough staircase up to the children's bedroom. It's very steep and the treads are very narrow, but there is no carpet on them. A carpet would make them more dangerous because of the narrowness of the treads. But they are treated, so they aren't slippery at all. Nosoccermom, if your treads are wide enough, the anti-slip stuff might be enough for your dog.

go to your local wood supply store - the kind that sells real hardwood, plywood, exotic species, etc. They'll sell nosing you can glue to the treads to make the nosing. For us, my husband wanted a wider nosing (he's always worried about tripping!) so we used the 'ready step' profile, which is a very tall bullnose. You could use a regular bullnose if you wanted to though. Glue your tread boards together, then glue the nosing on, then finish the nosing to a close color match. Distressing is easy to do - stick the boards down on double sided tape, then grab chisels, sandpaper, files, chains, and beat up the nosings til they look similar to your treads. Distressing is fun! (Especially after a rough work day, or fight with your spouse about the Xth house decision you don't agree on ;P ) Many have experts in the color/stain department and can get you a very close match to the original flat boards. (I know, we stained our stair nosings to match our treads too!) There's a few good articles on woodworking sites - the main tips are knowing that there are both dyes and stains (dyes are better for matching dark colors) . Matching stain is difficult, especially on older floors that may have changed color from their original. (Color on new pieces may shift to be different than a match done at time of install). Decide on whether you prefer oil based stains, or water based. Waterbased doesn't really stink like oil does, but we found it mutes the color difference in the grain, so isn't always preferred. (Again, depends on what you are trying to match) You'll need a few tries to get the color correct - there are 4 basic stain bases, each with their own 'shade' of color. Practicing on scrap gives you options to test and get as close as possible. Gloss/sheen will affect your perception of color, as will lighting. Match in the lighting that will most often be used in the area (eg, incandescent, led, fluorescent, or natural light). It WILL likely look off in different lighting unless a perfect match of the same species, of the same age. Hope that helps!