Stainless Steel Stair Treads with Replaceable Nosing
Think Perforation, Think Graepels. Precision Perforation for Perfect Results
Graepels made stainless steel stair treads with a grip coated painted nosing for an escape staircase at St Patrick’s College in Navan. The nosing is a separate bolt on part, so a worn one can be swapped without lifting the tread and closing the flight.
The treads were produced in 2mm 304 stainless steel with a 2B finish, sized to suit a busy public stairwell.
Why Choose Graepels?
We have almost 70 years of experience across the UK and Ireland, with expertise in perforated metal, woven wire, metal fabrication, laser cutting, and ISO 9001 certified manufacturing.
Download pdf 
The Project at a Glance
The Client
Name: Staircase with Painted Nosing for St Patrick's College
Location: Navan, Ireland
Industry: Education
Contractor: Arch-I Modular Solutions
Date: August 2026
The Project
Product: Grip Coated Painted Stair Treads
Material: 2mm 304 Stainless Steel
Specification: Graepel 7-7 perforation, 1200 x 300 x 70mm finished size, with bolt on replaceable nosing
Finish: 2B Stainless Steel with Painted Removable Nosing
Use Case: Escape stair access on a school building
We Are Fully Accredited & Award-Winning
The Brief
Arch-I Modular Solutions approached Graepels for stainless steel stair treads with a painted, grip coated nosing, destined for an escape staircase at St Patrick’s College in Navan.
The treads had to give reliable grip and stand up to heavy daily use in a school. There was also a longer term problem worth solving. On most staircases a worn nosing means lifting the whole tread to replace it, which takes the stairs out of service for longer than anyone wants on an escape route.
The Solution
Graepels produced the treads in 2mm 304 stainless steel with a 2B finish, using our Graepel 7-7 pattern, at a finished size of 1200 x 300 x 70mm.
Replaceable Nosing
The nosing is grip coated, painted and fitted as a separate part rather than formed into the tread. It bolts on, so a single nosing can come off and be replaced while the tread stays in place. On a staircase that has to keep working, that means one step out of use at a time instead of the whole flight.
Still in Development
The current version bolts on in the standard way with nuts and bolts. We are working on threading the fixing holes and locating each nosing with an extrusion before it is bolted down, which will cut fitting time further. That refinement was not part of this order and development is ongoing.
The Outcome
The staircase went in at St Patrick’s College, with Arch-I Modular Solutions handling assembly and installation to a design by Andrew O’Gorman Architects. Both the installer and the architect were pleased with the result.
The treads give the grip and the finish a public escape route needs, and the separate nosing turns future maintenance into a quick swap rather than a strip down.
For Graepels it is a step towards a modular nosing system, where individual units can be recoated or replaced without touching the tread at all.
Why Choose Graepels?
We have almost 70 years of experience across the UK and Ireland, with expertise in perforated metal, woven wire, metal fabrication, laser cutting, and ISO 9001 certified manufacturing.