Finishing new staircase

We've just had a new staircase in our extension (they're actually fitting it as I write). It's white deal with two short flights at 90 degrees and a landing in the middle. The room below is to be tiled and the room above solid wood floored (birch). We were planning to paint the bannisters but are not sure what to do with the steps - possibly use a varnish stain? Or is floor paint tough enough to withstand scuffing? What would be the best option here?

If you like the look of them as they are (i.e. the wood colour), then floor lacquer is your only man. Give them a sand to remove any scuff marks, lacquer them, another light sand and then a second coat of lacquer. It'll withstand all but hob-nail boots.

PS. The wood will darken and yellow with sunlight and age, so be aware that the stairs are not going to stay the same colour.

E.

If it is white deal as the poster originally mentioned it will not go the lovely yellow with red colours at the previous poster mentioned. It may darken slightly but not as much as red deal. Varnish usually has a mellowing colour in it even though it is clear.

If you varnish it now you can always paint it at a later stage, but if you paint now you can never get back to the varnish look.

We used diamond coat on our red deal stairs about 7 years ago and it has held well.

you need to sand new stairs before any applications. stair manufacturers do not sand stairs ,wood will be covered in plane marks and mill glaze all of which shall be visible after painting or refinishing. if you want a professional look you need to spend a good deal of time sanding all of the stairs ,risers ,steps and rails. take one day sanding vacuum up all dust.
next day start your finishing as ther will be no airborne dust to settle in any applications. use waterbased non yellowing polyurethane for steps if desired wood will not change color over time and you can recoat steps in the future . it is important to recoat steps before they start showing signs of wear you dont want to start sanding again. i dont know why stair manufacturers do not supply stairs pre sanded save us homeowners all the grief.

Open to correction here.

Water based varnish doesn't change the colour of wood as much as oil based varnish does.

Sorry I hadn't read chum's full post re. ghe water based varnish.

not all waterbased finishes are non yellowing,it must clearly state this on can. non yellowing finishes are clearer and usually cost more.

Thanks for the advice everyone. It appears our stairs were already sanded and just need a touch up here and there. It's a bit unfortunate that there's a (filled) wood knot right on top of the uppermost balustrade, so I think the banisters will have to be painted as otherwise that wouldn't look great. But I think we will water-based varnish the rest (non-yellowing variety) as mentioned above.