Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Pros: - Easy to install using the roller tool - Good but not extreme/abrasive level of traction - Flexible enough to stretch as it’s applied, making it easier to align and avoid wrinkles - The frosted glass texture looks pretty good in person — just noticeable enough to know where to step, but doesn’t make nice hardwoods stairs look too tacky or commercial. - Fairly discrete - Roller tool is well made for the task - Easy to peel treads from their backing - Large enough to cover the tread/lip of each step in my home Cons: - Clear surface makes bubbles below more obvious and somewhat visible - Doesn’t include many or any spare treads depending on the size of your staircase - Adhesive backing is only non-stick on one side (issues with that described below). Pro/con depending on preference: - Doesn’t cover much depth of a step in the staircase; enough where you need it and more likely to still fit smaller steps, but some users may want more coverage. - Adhesive is strong enough to not peel at the edges easily, but some people report it will affect hardwood finish when removed (can always refinish true hardwood, though) - Texture is rough enough to hide my attempts to poke pinholes to release tiny air bubbles, but rubbery enough that those holes don’t seem to do much. Overall Impression: Overall, great quality and exactly what I’d expected. Installation was fairly easy as long as you’re careful about bubbles. I’m a little concerned about any damage to the hardwood finish when they’re removed, but not too worried if the hardwood just needs a new topcoat afterwords. [Update: I was able to remove these a few years later without noticeable damage or trouble. Your mileage may vary depending on the finish of your hardwood. Unless you consult an expert, you may want to test this on an out of sight bit of flooring first if concerned.] Installation tips/issues: This is a lot like placing a screen-protector on your phone! However, these are a bit more stretchy and much bigger and more flexible. After a few I settled on the follow method: (1) fully remove the backing while holding from one end and allowing to hang vertically, (2) lift the bottom with your other hand and hold the tread over the target stair about centered, (3) bring your hands holding the ends of the tread together a few inches so that the center of it sags slightly to barely make contact with the stair at its center, (4) slowly lower both hands so the tread comes down onto the stair from that center point outward to the side, while lowering, watch the front edge to make sure you’re aligning the tread with the edge of the stair to stay parallel, (5) as the tread initially makes contact with the stair, you can still peel it up to adjust without much of an issue if it’s only just lightly made contact without any pressure. (You really do want to get them down right on the first try, though). (6) Use the roller from the center for the tread rolling outward toward each side, always making an arc outward to the edges so that you’re pushing air underneath out toward the sides and ends of the tread. My only issue was that, when one tread was peeled from the non-stick backing, it swung back and briefly made contact with the opposite side of the backing which is just regular paper. Once that happened, the tread was completely irrecoverable — like peeling a cheap price tag off a product, the paper sticks to the tread and can’t be removed (see photos). I’m now going to need to see if they sell replacement packs or purchase a whole new set just for a single step... Unfortunately, the pack was for 15 steps, and one flight of stairs here was exactly 15 steps, so the single error made it so I have to replace that single tread. When they go to all the expense of sending the nice kit with the roller and everything else, it would have been nice and sensible to include some spare treads in case of an error during installation or if one starts to peel at the edges over time. I’m sure a few extra treads would only increase the material cost per unit marginally, and it’d be pretty helpful in the maybe 1-10% of cases where something goes wrong during installation or if one or two treads eventually needs replacement. Overall, I’ve purchased these stair treads to make sure our four-legged friends don’t slip on our steps (not to mention the less sure-footed humans), and I’m pretty happy with these. [Update: These lasted fairly well. There was some minor peeling at the edges after a year or so, but that didn’t affect their functionality, just their look. Most of us are probably happier that they need occasional replacement than use an adhesive so strong it could cause damage like some. Overall, these were a good buy. Once you get the technique down, it’s super easy to just peel off a tread and replace it from a pack of spares if ever needed. Overall, it hugely reduced the slip/fall risk (people wearing socks slipped and fell on these steps before, and we were very lucky to not have had any more serious injuries). It’s hard to put a price on safety, but fortunately these were affordable, effective, easy to use, replaceable, damage-free, and fairly discrete. If you’re not sure about putting treads on your stairs, I’d strongly encourage you to use whatever kind of traction tread you can bear. Some people like the bare hardwood look, and I’ll admit that looks nice, but it looks less nice when someone slips, falls, gets bruised up or worse and lays moaning in pain as a crumpled up heap at the bottom of your beautiful staircase. I found these to be a fairly good option that really did the job well without making any of us feel they spoiled the aesthetics of the staircase.]