For hundreds of years cherry has a been a desirable wood species due to its beautiful natural color; its subtle grain lends itself to elegant applications. Cherry is an excellent wood for furniture, cabinets and stairs. Cherry is easy to work with, however it does present a few challenges to be aware for use in stairs.
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Bleaching from light. Cherry is a hardwood by classification, however within that category woods have a broad range of density and hardness.
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Cherry dents easily. It is not advisable to use cherry on stair treads due to the heavy use, unless you plan to carpet over the treads. Historically, oak or maple was often used for treads, due to their hard character.
Today, we have tropical species that do a great job of blending with cherry’s natural color. Sapele Mahogany is a tropical species that blends well and has great density for use on treads.