Black walnut is rarely used for stair treads or other
stair parts, because of its darker color. Most home designers like to
use lighter colors, because darker colors like walnut usually create
depressing environments. However, if you did like the color or wanted to
mix it up with other hardwoods, it's hard enough to make a durable stair
tread.
Black Walnut usually has a dark brown to a darker
brown color, but can be found with lighter brown to a darker brown, with
a hint of purple. If this hardwood is sanded enough, it can produce an
incredible finish, as a matter of fact, you can usually see your
reflection in highly polished, darker hardwoods. Remember, highly
polished stair treads are slippery and should have some sort of non-slip
materials, running through them, to prevent any personal injuries.
Gluing = Great, Walnut might not be the best wood to glue, but it will
definitely hold together, if glued properly.
Sanding = Good, Walnut can be sanded, even though it's not one of the
softer hardwoods. However, like I said earlier, this particular wood can
be sanded, polished and then finished, to a mirror like perfection.
Staining = Poor, You could try and stain it, but your efforts might
prove to be futile, because they might not sell any stains dark enough,
to make a big difference.
Nailing = Good, you shouldn't have a problem nailing or screwing into
walnut, but every once in awhile you're going to hit a spot that's going
to be difficult. Even though some of the hardwoods are harder than
others, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pre-drill any holes, in areas that
you can't afford to damage.
Wear And Tear = Excellent, about 20 years ago I was looking through a
magazine that had an old picture of a stairway that was built out of
walnut. It was actually located in a home that was over 150 years old.
The stairway still looked like it was in great shape, but with a little
tender loving care, it would have looked fantastic.
