310mm PVC Stair Tread

Product Overview

The 310 mm PVC stair tread is a solid PVC cover laid over an existing step to give it a clean, hard-wearing walking surface. At 310 mm deep it covers the full going of most commercial and institutional stairs, so there is no joint running across the middle of the step where a heel or a trolley wheel can catch. Standard pieces are 1200 mm and 1500 mm long, and other lengths are made to the dimensions you send us.

Projects specify it for two reasons. The first is repair: a flight whose steps are chipped, worn through at the nose or simply dated can be brought back into service a step at a time instead of being demolished and re-cast. The second is design: the tread is produced in the same PVC family and in colours chosen to sit beside our sheet flooring, so a stairwell can carry the colour scheme of the corridor below it instead of breaking into a different material at the first step.

As part of our wholesale stair treads range it arrives cut square and finished on the face, ready to be trimmed to the width of the flight on site. It is almost always specified together with a nosing at the front edge, which takes the impact and closes the joint between the tread and the step beneath.

Dimensions and Stair Fit

• Two standard lengths, one depth. Pieces come in 1200 mm and 1500 mm lengths, all 310 mm deep, which covers the going of most commercial and institutional stairs without a join across the step.
• Other lengths to order. A vinyl stair tread can be made to the length you specify when a flight is wider than 1500 mm or when a landing has to be covered in one piece; send the measured width with your enquiry.
• Measure the going, not the tread you are replacing. Run the tape from the front of the nose back to the face of the riser, and take the width at three points along the flight, because walls are rarely parallel.
• Plan the cut at the wall. Order the nearest length above your widest measurement and trim at the wall line, so the cut edge never sits in the walking path.
• Allow for the lift. A tread laid over an existing step raises the finished level by 4 mm; check the bottom step against the floor and the top step against the door threshold before fixing starts.
• Exposed edges. On stairs with an open side, the cut edge needs a profile rather than a sawn face — an anti slip stair nosing or a matching edge cover closes it properly.
• Confirm the profile. Radius, bevel and edge tolerance are made to order; check them against a template or an approved sample before the full quantity goes into production.

Material and Build

Treads are made from a solid homogeneous PVC vinyl compound, produced from first-quality virgin material and coloured through the full thickness of the piece. There is no printed film or laminated wear layer sitting on top, so a scuff at the nose or a cut from a site tool stays a local mark instead of turning into a pale patch that spreads as the surface wears.

The compound is formulated not to chip, crack or fade, and it is non-conductive, which matters on stairs beside electrical risers, plant rooms and service corridors. It is non-toxic and RoHS-compliant. An antibacterial additive is part of the formulation, which helps in schools, clinics and public buildings — it supports a routine cleaning regime, it does not replace one.

The face carries a fine matte texture rather than a high gloss. That texture is where the abrasion resistance underfoot comes from, and it is also what keeps a stair presentable: matte PVC hides heel marks, trolley scuffs and the dull patches that appear where everyone turns. A glossier face shows every one of them.

Technical Data

Colour and Surface Planning

• Start from the floor, not from the tread. Choose the sheet first and pick the tread against it; a tread that is a shade off shows at every step of the flight.
• Close the edge in the same colour. A vinyl stair nosing made from the same compound lets the front edge disappear into the tread instead of drawing a line across it.
• Where a different edge is wanted. A pvc stair nosing in a contrasting tone is used deliberately on the last step of a flight or at a landing to mark the change of level.
• Texture is part of the specification. A fine matte face is easier to keep clean than a deeply ribbed one, which traps dust in a busy stairwell — decide which the building can actually maintain.
• One order for one stairwell. Colour is controlled to a reference, but no two production runs are identical, so put every step of a flight and the spare on the same order.
• Approve it in the stairwell. Ask your sales contact about samples of the tread colour against your sheet, and look at them under the lighting of the actual stair, not in an office.
• Keep the direction consistent. On landings, run the pieces the same way as the flight below so the grain reads continuously from the corridor.

Nosing and Edge Integration

The front edge of a step is where a stair fails first, so the tread and the edge are specified as a matched pair. The profile covers the junction between tread and step, protects the leading edge from being kicked up or worn through, and gives the flight a straight, defined line. A nosing with a ribbed top surface and a curved front lip wraps over the nose rather than sitting on top of it, which keeps the joint tight on a refurbishment where the old nose has been trimmed back.

A vinyl stair nosing produced from the same compound and colour reference as the tread lets the edge disappear into the step. On a new build the nosing is set before the tread is finally bedded, so the two line up in one operation; on a retrofit the existing nose is cut back and the profile covers the cut. Because both parts come from the same range and the same colour, the assembly reads as one surface rather than as a floor with a strip bolted to the end of it — which is what specifiers ask for when the stair is visible from the lobby.

Where a tread meets a different material at a landing, or where the stair is open on one side, the same profile family closes the detail without a bespoke piece.

Product Advantages

• Retrofit instead of demolition. Existing steps are covered, not broken out, so the flight stays usable apart from the fixing window and there is no wet trade, no curing slab and no skips on the landing.
• Single steps can be replaced. If one step is damaged, that piece comes out and a new one goes in at the same length and colour while the rest of the flight stays untouched.
• One stair detail across a building. Because our wholesale stair treads are made in the same compound and colour family as the sheet flooring, a multi-block project can repeat a single stair specification without the stairs drifting away from the floor palette.
• No fixings in the walking line. The tread is bonded across its full face, so there are no screw heads or trims underfoot on the part of the step people actually walk on.
• A metal edge where impact is heaviest. On service stairs used by trolleys and delivery carts, an aluminum stair nosing over the nose takes the impact that would otherwise chip the tread edge.
• Trimmed on site. Treads are cut to the width of the flight with normal hand tools, so a wall that runs out of square does not send the order back to the factory.

Installation and Fixing

1. Let the treads lie flat inside the building so they settle to room temperature before fitting, and stack them clear of the flight being worked on.
2. Measure every step — going, width at both ends and the height of the nose — and number the treads to match, because no two steps in an older flight are identical.
3. Cut to width and dry-fit. Trim the wall side, not the nose side, and check that the front edge meets the nose in a straight line before any adhesive is opened.
4. Prepare the substrate: the step must be sound, dry and free of dust, paint, old adhesive and loose tile. Fill hollows and grind high spots, because a tread bedded over a hollow will rock and lift at the edge.
5. Prime where the adhesive calls for it, and confirm with our team which adhesive suits your substrate — concrete, screed, tile and timber all behave differently.
6. Spread the adhesive across the full face of the step, lay the tread from the riser forward, and roll or press it outwards from the centre so no air is trapped underneath.
7. Fit the nosing while the adhesive is still open, so tread and edge line up in a single operation.
8. Wipe adhesive off the face before it sets, and keep traffic off the flight until it has fully cured — confirm the open time and cure window for your site with your sales contact.

Performance and Long-Term Value

A vinyl stair tread is judged over years rather than weeks: what matters is whether the surface still grips in year five, whether the nose is still square, and whether a cleaning team can bring the colour back after a bad week. The compound resists abrasion and holds its dimensions under continuous load, so the piece stays flat on the step instead of curling at the edges and rocking underfoot.

Grip comes from the texture of the material itself rather than from a coating applied on top, so it is not lost as the finish wears. Day-to-day cleaning is damp mopping with a neutral detergent — no stripping, sealing or buffing, no drying time and no solvent smell in an occupied building. That is the operational point: a stair that is cleaned in one pass can be handed back sooner, and the surface carries no maintenance programme of its own.

Set against re-casting or re-tiling a flight, the calculation runs per step rather than per stairwell: the material, the adhesive and one visit from a fitter, with the stair back in use at the end of it.

Public Transport Facilities

• Airport terminal stairs. Between levels, steps take rolling luggage, cleaning machines and a constant flow; a flat, joint-free face keeps the surface even where wheels cross it, and the leading edge is finished with a vinyl stair nosing so the nose does not break down under cases.
• Rail and metro stairs. Where passengers step off a platform straight onto a flight, the first step takes the impact: an anti slip stair nosing at the edge gives a defined grip line and a colour change the eye catches in a crowd.
• Bus stations and ferry terminals. Cleaning happens overnight with strong chemicals; the compound resists common cleaning substances and needs no coating that a strong cleaner would strip off.
• Interchange concourses. Long flights read better when every nose carries the same line, which is why tread and edging are supplied from one colour reference instead of being matched on site.
• Refurbishment in a live station. Work moves up the flight step by step, so a single stair can be closed and handed back rather than a whole concourse being taken out of service.

Education and Healthcare Environments

Schools, kindergartens, clinics and hospital wings put the same demand on a stair: the people using it are not always watching their feet. Children run down flights, patients arrive on frames and in wheelchairs, visitors read signs instead of steps. A tread with a defined, textured walking surface and an anti slip stair nosing at every nose gives the whole flight one consistent grip line, so the step feels the same at the top of the building as at the bottom.

Hygiene matters as much as grip. Stairs in these buildings are cleaned daily with the same disinfectants used on the flooring, and the compound resists the common substances a cleaning team reaches for, so the stair does not stain or dull ahead of the floor beside it. The matte face hides what a busy school leaves behind and mops back to colour.

Colour does a second job here. On a long hospital corridor stair, a tread in a contrasting tone at the first and last steps helps people read the change of level; in a primary school the same detail marks the last step before a doorway. Because pieces are cut to the flight, a stair that was built slightly out of square still ends with an even line of nosings rather than a ragged edge.

Commercial and Hospitality Settings

• Hotels. Guest stairs and back-of-house service stairs in the same building; in service areas where trolleys are wheeled, a pvc stair nosing takes the knocks at the nose and is replaced far more cheaply than a stone step.
• Restaurants and bars. Grease, food spill and degreaser on the stairs between kitchen and floor: the compound stands up to common cleaning substances and mops clean without a seal.
• Offices. Entrance and inter-floor stairs where the tread has to follow the lobby sheet, so colour is chosen against the floor rather than in isolation.
• Shopping malls. Public circulation stairs cleaned overnight; where trolleys and cleaning machines cross the flight, an aluminum stair nosing with a grip insert protects the nose.
• Apartments for the elderly and assisted living. An even surface with no loose edge to catch a stick or a walking frame, and a contrasting nose so the step edge stays visible.
• Bathing centres and leisure pools. Wet shoes and bare feet on poolside stairs — tell us the area and we will confirm the right surface and edging for it.
• Keeping the building open. None of these settings can spare a stairwell for weeks, which is why a bonded tread fitted step by step is often chosen over rebuilding the flight.

Ordering and Delivery

Orders are built from a flight schedule rather than from a catalogue number: send the number of steps, the width and length of each, the colour reference and the edge profile you want, and we will confirm what is standard and what has to be made. We supply wholesale stair treads for large-scale projects as well as single-flight replacements, and a multi-block order is scheduled together so the colour stays consistent from the first block to the last.

Standard lengths come out of regular production; custom lengths and special colours are made to order, so confirm availability and the documents you need for your file with your sales contact before the programme is fixed. Payment is by TT or LC. Typical lead time is 7-15 days. Treads are bundled, wrapped and strapped for container loading, with the nosings packed separately so the profiles are not crushed in transit.

Targeted Use and Functional Role of Wholesale Stair Treads

These wholesale stair treads are made for commercial and institutional buildings where stair safety and long service life come first. Facility managers, architects and builders use the vinyl tread to give high-traffic stairs a robust, slip-resistant walking surface that reduces fall risk, and pair it with PVC stair nosing for full edge protection and a consistent look across each flight. The range is aimed at public-access environments where stair assemblies have to line up with the safety and compliance requirements of the project, so it is worth confirming the specific standards and documentation your authority asks for before you specify.

Industry Applications and Operational Benefits

Integrated tread and vinyl nosing assemblies are used across transport hubs, healthcare facilities, educational institutions and commercial office buildings. The surfaces are durable and corrosion resistant, resisting scuffing and chemical exposure so stair safety protocols hold up in daily use, and aluminium nosing variants add structural resilience where mechanical impact is frequent, such as industrial settings. For facility managers the result is fewer operational risks and less maintenance intervention, which supports long-term asset preservation and occupant safety targets.

Scale & Supply Capability

Shanghai Unitech Plastic Co., Ltd. has been supplying flooring and the products that finish an installation since 2000, working as a factory-based exporter from Baoshan District, Shanghai. Our 30-strong team runs production and export side by side: total monthly output exceeds 200 tons, and our quality management system is certified to ISO9001:2008. Buyers across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America and North America source a complete package from us — we support OEM production, handle one-stop export, and work to a typical dispatch window of 7–15 days.

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