Indoor stair covering - tiles or wood?

Hello everyone,

my wife and I recently purchased an old building apartment that is going to be completely renovated. Since it is a maisonette, a masonry half-turned staircase will be installed.

Which stair covering is best suited for this, tiles or wood?
What is more cost-effective for approximately 15 m2 area?
Is it possible to use only wooden treads and simply plaster and paint the risers white?
Would it be possible to install tiles completely without joints – joint-free?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Hello,

we have just finished discussing the topic. With a tiled staircase, you will never have a clean edge at the front, as the edge is always interrupted by joints. A stainless steel profile would help, but it is not nearly as durable as the tile itself. Also, you cannot create an overhang of the steps with tiles, as they would break. Without an overhang, however, the edge does not look good either.

Continuous installation can be achieved with 3cm thick natural stone slabs, e.g. granite or marble. That looks great and lasts forever. Problem: Cutting is a bit tricky with a 1/2-turned staircase and the slabs are expensive.

The same applies to wood as to natural stone, it is just not as durable, but "lives" instead. In terms of price, wood and granite are similar, depending heavily on the quality of the wood. Installation is more expensive with granite because it is difficult to work with and the large steps (in the corners of the turns) are very heavy.

You can either clad or plaster the risers with both options. We ultimately decided on granite.

If it is a staircase inside the apartment, and not an access staircase, a proper hardwood is also very durable. Apart from the general advantage of wood in the space, one is of course much freer in the design here. Whether it is color, overhang, thickness of the steps, profiling of the edge, and so on. The risers can also be easily made from white-coated chipboard for wooden steps. Very cheap and simple to manufacture. The advantage is that the risers can also be wiped damp when they become dirty due to frequent foot contact.