Stair Nose

Flush and overlap stair nose

A flush stair nose sits level with the surface of the floor, so the top of the tread and the top of the nosing form one continuous plane. An overlap nose sits slightly proud, with a lip that covers the edge of the floor, rather than meeting it.

Every stair nose in this range is one or the other and the two groups do not overlap, which is why they have their own pages: flush and overlap. They solve two different installation conditions and a staircase needs the one that matches its floor.

Which profile a floor needs

A floor that is glued down or nailed has no gap at its edge, so the nosing can meet it exactly and a flush profile works. A floating floor is laid with an expansion gap at every fixed edge, including the edge of a step, and that gap has to be covered while the floor is left free to move.

That is what an overlap nose does. Its lip sits over the edge of the floor, rather than being fixed to it, so the floor can move underneath. Using a flush profile on a floating floor closes the gap the floor needs, which is the reason the two are not interchangeable.

What a stair nose does

Three things at once. It finishes the front edge of the tread, which is the part of a staircase that takes the most wear. It covers the joint between the tread surface and the riser below it. And it gives the step a defined edge that can be seen.

That third job matters more than it sounds. The front edge of a step is what the eye uses to judge where the step is, and a nosing in a contrasting tone makes a staircase easier to read than one where tread and riser run together.

Matching the floor

A staircase usually continues a floor that arrives at the top or leaves from the bottom, and the nosing is made to match that floor, not the stair structure underneath.

It is why nosing is bought from the same range as the floor, in the same finish, and why ordering it later can mean a color that has moved on. The flooring trim page covers the rest of the profiles a floor needs.

Open and closed staircases

A staircase closed on both sides by walls needs nosing across the tread only. One with an open side, where the tread finishes in air over a stringer, needs the return as well, so the profile is seen from the side.

That changes what a piece has to look like instead of what it has to do, and it is worth establishing before ordering, since a staircase with two open sides needs considerably more thought at the ends of each tread.

Stair risers

The nosing finishes the top of the step. The vertical face below it is a separate piece, and the stair riser range covers those.

The two are usually chosen together, because a tread and a riser in different finishes is a deliberate look instead of a default one.