The offer to carpet the stairs usually represents an extra fee.
Should youinstall carpeton the stairs?
It is difficult to fix unattractive stairs because they do not lend themselves topainting.
The Spruce / Christopher Lee Foto
Carpet works wonders on stairs like this.
One thing it doesn’t fix, though: squeaky stairs.
Where carpeted stairs really excel is in houses that havenoisy stairs.
This noise is often resulting from young children.
And once young kids learn all about the staircase, they will use them relentlessly.
Or it might be that the stair materials are too thin to adequately absorb sounds.
Rather than replacing risers and treads or limiting the kids, it’s often easier to carpet the stairs.
If you know what astair runneris, it’s much like thisa continuous strip of carpet.
Cap-and-Band Method
Cap-and-band is also called wrapped nose.
Each stair receives two separate sections of the carpet: one for the tread, another for the riser.
Thetread carpetbutts up against the tread and then wraps down and around the stair nose.
Then another piece is added for the riser.
Essentially, the cut pieces do the tucking for you.
Carpeting creates a softened curve on the nose of each stair.
Typically, this sharp edge helps to provide grip.
But when carpet blunts that edge, your foot cannot grip as well.
Walking downward on carpeted stairs is especially hazardous.
Depth Perception Is Altered
Uncarpeted stairs have crisp lines that your eye can immediately identify.
The edge is clear, and it’s this edge that your foot needs to meet.
Carpeted stair treads tend to visually merge, making the target difficult to identify.
Every stair has the same color and texture.
When going up carpeted stairs, both the tread and the riser have the same color.
Carpet on stair risers shrinks stair tread depth by up to 1/2-inch.
This can present a slight trip hazard since your foot has less area to rest on.
Cleaning Carpeting Stairs
Cleaning carpeted stairs usually means using a handheld vacuum.
Still, it is difficult to completely clean carpeted stairs.
Extracting dirt from the corners is hard with smaller vacuums.
Larger, floor-mounted vacuums with attachments do an excellent job of cleaning carpeted stairs.
But these are unwieldy and difficult to move up and down the stairs.
By contrast, wooden stairs can be cleaned with a whisk broom and dustpan.
you could start at the top and gently brush debris down the staircase, one stair at a time.
Or you might clear each stair individually before moving down to the next stair.
Stair-Carpet Installation Speed
Installing carpet on stairsis a fairly quick job for straight stairs with no landings.
For professional carpet installers, it usually only takes a few minutes per stair to complete the entire staircase.
Should You Put Carpet on Your Stairs?
Any home that has active children can benefit from installing carpet on the stairs.
Stairs that are in need of a quick fix can also benefit from carpet.
The carpet covers surface problems and blemishes in the wood.
Carpeted stairs leading to basements or work areas will get dirty and require more frequent cleaning.
Vacuuming carpeted stairs is a painstaking job that requires you to haul the machine up and down the stairs.
