Brad's Profile

That is what the building code calls an "Alternating Tread Device". The theory being that on a regular stair, you only really use half of each step (the left or right half) to step on. Recognizing this, you can essentially delete half of each step (hence in this case the funny shaped treads) and compress the length of the stair, which works great for tight spaces.

Walk up your stair really slowly and pay attention to where you place each foot...if you step on the first step wiht your left foot, your right foot doesn't also go to the first step but directly to the second. So if you look at the very first picture, where you are looking down the stair, you step only on the larger sized treads.

Actually, you don't want to use a glue that is stronger than the materials you are bonding in this case. If it breaks again, where do you want it to break? The plywood, rubber, or the glue?

Someone mentioned not using a poly and oiling them instead. That is exactly the right thing to do. Poly sits on top of the woods surface and on a softer wood, such as your stairs, every time you walk up and down them (or your dogs claws hit the surface) the surface is compressed just a little bit. This, over time, breaks the poly coating away from the wood and it will eventually crack and flake off (as you have seen) (and I bet you also have seen that the worse it gets, the fastaer it gets worse).

A Linseed/Tung oil mixture will penetrate 1/4 to 1/2in and harden within the wood. Because it becomes part of the wood, it won't flake off like poly tends to (the oil finished also remain somewhat flexible). It requires anual maintenance (clean it and rewax it) but it is much easier (particularly on your stairs) than sanding and polyurethaning (which removes about 1/16in of wood each time) every 5 to 10 years. The oils will also give some richness and depth to the wood that poly doesn't.

Look at www.bioshieldpaint.com, but usually you can find similar mixes at a local hardware store (just read the ingredients and recomendations on the can).