Step & Riser Tiles Guide — Sizing, Nosing and Fitting

The vocabulary you need first

The going is the horizontal depth of a step, measured from the front edge of one nosing to the face of the riser behind it. It is what determines the tread tile you need: a 300 mm tread suits a going of roughly 290 to 305 mm, and a deeper stair takes the 330 mm tread.

The rise is the vertical height from the top of one step to the top of the next. The standard 200 mm riser tile covers a rise up to 200 mm; taller steps need the riser cut down or a custom height, and it is worth measuring several steps rather than assuming they are identical, because they frequently are not.

The nosing is the front edge of the tread, and it is the part that matters most. It takes essentially all the wear, it is where every fall starts, and it is the detail that separates a properly tiled stair from a cut-down floor.

Measuring and ordering

1. Measure the going on three different steps. Take the smallest figure. Stairs are rarely perfectly consistent, and the tread must fit the shallowest one.
2. Measure the rise on three steps. Take the largest. The riser tile must cover the tallest step.
3. Measure the width of the flight. A 1200 mm tile covers most domestic stairs in one piece; wider flights take two with a centred joint.
4. Count the steps, including the top one. The top step is the one most often missed, and it is always noticed.
5. Measure the landings separately. These are tiled in field tiles from the same range, so they need their own area figure.
6. Choose the nosing profile. Grooved anti-slip for external stairs and any public building; bullnose for interior domestic flights.
7. Add ten per cent and order it all together. Treads, risers and landing tiles in one order so the shades match.

Size reference

Choosing the nosing

• Bullnose — a smooth rounded front edge. Comfortable underfoot, easy to clean, and correct for interior domestic stairs in dry areas. Not adequate where the stair gets wet.
• Grooved anti-slip — fine channels running along the front of the tread, giving an R11 wet slip rating. The correct specification for external steps, wet areas, and any staircase in a commercial or public building.
• Contrast nosing — a tonal or colour change at the step edge. Not a style choice — it is what lets a user see where each step ends, and most accessibility codes require it.
• Full body body, whatever the profile — because nosings get chipped, and on a glazed tile the chip shows as a bright mark at eye level on every step.

Fitting sequence

1. Check the substrate. Concrete stairs are rarely true. Level the treads before tiling — packing them out with adhesive gives a weak bond at exactly the wrong place.
2. Fit the risers first. Bottom step upward. Each riser goes on before the tread above it.
3. Then the treads, overlapping the riser top. So no joint faces upwards to collect water and dirt, and the nosing line stays clean.
4. Work from the bottom up. It keeps the finished work out of the way of the setter.
5. Keep the nosing line consistent. Any variation in how far the nosing projects is visible down the whole flight and reads as poor work.
6. Grout with a flexible grout. Stairs move and vibrate more than floors, and a rigid grout will crack at the tread-to-riser joint.

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