Stair Riser Tiles

Why Tile-Look Stair Risers Instead of Real Tile

Real tile on a staircase is a lovely thing and a miserable job. Every riser is its own small surface, so every one needs cutting to fit, a bed of thinset, grout, and a day of curing before anyone can use the stairs. In a rental it is not an option at all. Tile-look stair riser strips give you the same visual — encaustic Moroccan patterns, veined marble, speckled terrazzo, hexagon mosaic — as a single printed vinyl strip that you press onto the riser face. Twelve to fourteen strips and the staircase is finished in an afternoon, with nothing to cure and nothing to undo later.

The Tile Looks in This Collection

This is the tile-pattern subset of our stair risers. Moroccan and encaustic designs, including the Round Moroccan and Flower Moroccan tiles that people most often mean when they search for tiled stairs. Marble in chevron, hexagon and patterned cuts. Terrazzo with its scattered chips. Concrete for a poured-cement look. Herringbone laid as tile rather than as wood. Each is designed to read as tile at the distance a staircase is actually seen from — standing at the bottom looking up, or from the landing looking down. And because every strip carries the same pattern, the risers line up as a matched set the way real tile would, without you matching anything.

How Tile Strips Work on a Real Staircase

Every strip is 48 inches wide and comes in four heights — 6, 6.5, 7 or 7.5 inches — so measure one riser and pick the closest. One strip covers one riser. Strips come in packs of three or six; a typical staircase has twelve to fourteen risers, so two 6-packs usually does it. They stick to painted, primed or finished wood, including varnished and polyurethaned surfaces. They are for the vertical riser face only, not for the treads you walk on. The vinyl is removable and repositionable: if a strip goes on a hair crooked, lift a corner and re-lay it.

Ordering and Fit

Order a 6 x 6 inch sample first if you want to see the pattern scale against your own stairs; tile patterns in particular look different at riser size than on a screen. Everything is made to order in our Ramsey, New Jersey studio and usually ships in one to three business days. Order all your risers at once — strips are printed to order and roll lots can vary very slightly between dates, so a single order keeps the colour consistent up the whole flight. If your stairs are wider than 48 inches, contact us and we will cut wider strips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the tiles line up from one stair to the next?

There is nothing to line up. Every strip is identical, so each riser matches the one above and below it and the pattern reads as one continuous tiled run.

Can I use these on the stair treads as well?

No. They are made for the vertical riser face only. The tread is a walking surface and these are not designed for it.

Will they stick to varnished or polyurethaned wood?

Yes. Painted, primed, varnished and polyurethaned wood all work.

How is this different from peel and stick floor tile?

Floor tile is thick and rigid and made to be walked on. These are thin printed vinyl strips made for a vertical face. They are different products — floor tile does not belong on a riser, and these do not belong on a floor.

Shop related collections: All Stair Risers, Stair Riser Covers, Stair Riser Stickers, Stair Riser Wallpaper and Marble Wallpaper.