Solid Brass Stair Nosing 59.5mm Tread, 55mm Square Front | Cut to Size

Solid brass, cut to your stair. This is a single-channel nosing machined from CZ108 brass bar in a 5 mm gauge, with a 59.5 mm tread and a 55 mm square front face. The square front is the point of it: instead of rolling over the arris, the profile presents a flat vertical face down the front of the step, which reads as a deliberate architectural line and covers a deeper edge than a bullnose would. It is specified in hotels, banks, listed refurbishments and reception stairs — places where the stair is meant to be looked at. Every length is cut to order between 700 and 2700 mm, in four brass finishes, with thirty insert options.

Why it works

Brass is a finish decision with a maintenance consequence

Brass is not stainless steel. It is a living surface: polished brass will dull and darken with handling unless it is cleaned, and the antique finishes are popular precisely because they start dark and hide the traffic. Neither is a fault. Decide at specification stage whether the building has someone to polish a staircase, and choose the finish accordingly — antique brass and antique bronze if not.

CZ108 machines cleanly, which is why hidden fixing works

CZ108 is a free-cutting brass to BS EN 12164:2016. It drills and counterbores without tearing, so the drilled hidden-fix option gives you countersunk holes at your own centres, concealed under the insert once it is pressed home. On a solid brass profile at 5 mm gauge that matters: this is a heavy section, and on a public stair it should be mechanically fixed rather than trusted to adhesive alone.

The insert is the wearing part

The channel takes four families of infill: castellated PVC, smooth textured PVC, brass BTI, and Olympic Grip. They wear at different rates and grip differently, and the insert can be replaced later without lifting the brass. Choose it for the job the stair does, not to match the metal — see the warning below.

Where it is used

Hotel and restaurant staircases, bank and reception stairs, heritage and listed refurbishments, apartment entrance halls, retail fit-outs and boardroom floors. It suits medium to heavy foot traffic. It is chosen where a stair nosing has to look considered rather than industrial, and where the budget carries a solid brass section.

Specifications

Choosing the right option

Read this before choosing a brass insert. Four of the thirty insert options — antique brass, antique bronze, polished brass and satin brass — are brass BTI infills. They are the most expensive choice and the least visible one. A brass insert in a brass channel gives you almost no tonal separation, and the one published figure on this line, antique bronze at 9.15 LRV, is very dark. Approved Document K and BS 8300-2:2018 expect a stair nosing to be distinguishable from the tread. Do not specify brass-on-brass where a contrasting nosing is required. Use it for appearance in a private or heritage setting, and take a contrasting PVC insert anywhere an access audit will be run.

Then the grip. Olympic Grip is the coarser, higher-traffic infill. Castellated and smooth textured PVC suit ordinary internal use.

Then the finish and the length. Measure the finished stair width and order that figure; each piece is cut individually.

Installation, use and care

Fit to a clean, dry, level step. Set the profile to the nose, bed it on a suitable adhesive and fix mechanically — through the drilled hidden-fix holes if you have ordered them, so the insert conceals the heads. Press the insert home last. Where the stair is carpeted, use the BNE naplock alongside; for a retrofit over an existing finish, the BNFE30 ramp profile takes up the level. In service, clean the brass with a proprietary brass cleaner appropriate to the finish and nothing abrasive; lacquered and antique finishes should not be polished back. Clean inserts with a neutral detergent and let them dry before the stair is used.

Common questions

How long can I have it cut?
Between 700 mm and 2700 mm, to a tolerance of ±5 mm. 2700 mm is the manufacturing maximum; wider flights are covered with two pieces and a joint.

Is there a slip rating?
No classification is published for this line, and we will not quote one. If your specification demands a stated R value or pendulum figure, choose a profile that publishes it and we will point you at one.

Will polished brass stay bright?
No, not without maintenance. It will darken with handling. If nobody is going to polish it, specify antique brass or antique bronze.

Can it be returned?
Cut-to-size and drilled pieces are made to your measurements and cannot be returned, so check the stair width before ordering.

Ordering and delivery

Give us the finished width of each step and choose your finish, insert and drilling option. Every piece is cut individually and the price shown covers any length within the range. If you are pricing a full flight or a schedule of stairs, send the widths over and we will work the take-off with you before you commit.