Stairs are the most common areas in the house or business to have carpet, yet they are also the most complex. Choosing carpet for the stairs can be more complicated than picking carpet for other home areas. In addition to deciding on carpet style and the colour, the carpet has to be of suitable durability and thickness to be fixed on the stairs. Of course, it also has to look great as it wraps throughout the edge of the stairs and through the rail posts.
Carpets Increase Safety for Stair Cases
Even if you favour hard coverings such as hardwood or laminate, carpet on the stairs is still a good approach, even if it is in the form of a runner on the stairs. Having carpet on the stairs is safer than having the stairs spread with hard surface flooring. Hard surfaces are slippery, and can readily lead to a fall. If a fall occurs, the carpet offers a much softer grounding spot than hardwood or laminate, which could help decrease the likelihood of injury.
Stair Carpets Should Be Of High Quality
Stairs are the highest traffic zone in any home, not only because they are often utilised. The impact of foot traffic is more prominent on stairs than on flat sections due to gravity’s constant force as you descend the stairs. This indicates that you should be using the highest-quality carpet and runners you can afford. While an upgraded carpet and underlay will be an added cost up front, they will most surely save you dollars in the long term, as the carpet will need to be replaced less regularly.
Carpets for Stairs Must Be Durable
Stairs continue to be the highest-traffic area of any house. Consequently, it is crucial that the carpet coating them be durable enough to stand up to the heavy traffic, and still look great. This implies that if you are carpeting your bedrooms, stairs and hallways, the carpet that is suitable for your bedrooms may not be suitable for your stairs. When picking carpet for stairs, you typically want to go with the highest durability that you can manage, in the style that you favour.
Consider The Thickness Of Stair Carpets
Many people believe that a thicker carpet is more long-lasting. This is not always the situation; in fact, some of the most durable carpets have the slimmest profiles, and some of the thickest carpets are full of air.
Thickness is an essential factor in the appropriateness of carpet for the stairs. A too thick carpet can be a safety hazard because as it encircles around the nosing (front edge) of the stair, it acts as an incline for your foot, with nothing ample to support your feet underneath. A thick carpet can lead to slips and falls, which no one wants to happen on the stairs.
Also, carpet installers don’t like operating with thick carpets on stairs. It is more complex to wrap a thick carpet around the nosing and within the railing pickets, as you can imagine.
Soil Resistant Carpets
There is a difference between soiling and staining. Suppose you pick a carpet that will only cover your stairs (and not other spaces such as the family room). In that case, stain resistance is not a top preference because the carpet is not likely to be subjected to numerous spills. Nevertheless, you should still look for a carpet that has excellent soil resistance.
The oils on your feet’ soles can leave deposits on the carpet as you walk up and down the stairs. You can circumvent this by wearing socks or slippers at home. Still, if you have pets or really prefer to go barefoot, make sure you get a soil-resistant carpet. The residue doesn’t cling to the fibres and attracts dirt particles.
Appearance and Style
Any style of carpet can be applied on stairs. Many people are concerned about how the carpet will look where it wraps encompassing the edge of the stair, or where it has to be cut about railing posts. Common anxieties include seeing the carpet’s underlay as it wraps around the edge (particularly with a looped carpet, such as Berber) and seeing the stitchings where it has been joined together around a column.
You will not be able to see the carpet’s underlay, except in the lowest grades of carpets. Even most entry-level or builder-grade carpets will not show the backing when enclosed around the edge of the stair—provided, of course, they have been correctly fitted.
The carpet has a direction to the pile, and the movement must run from the top of the stairs to the base (not sideways). Not only does this improve the performance of the carpet and guarantee proper wear, but it also stops you from seeing between the “rows” of fibre when you bend the carpet.
When people choose a Berber carpet sample and bend it backwards, they can sometimes see the rows’ lining. This is referred to in the flooring industry as “smiling.” Nevertheless, typically when a person is performing this, they are bending the carpet the incorrect way.
The rows of loops in a carpet are sewed lengthwise on the roll. When the carpet smiling, it has been bent sideways so that the rows are going from side to side on the flooring sample. Suppose the carpet is turned about so that the rows are going from top to bottom on the carpet sample. In that instance, the smiling effect no longer occurs because the loops fold over the bend in harmony.
When the carpet is fitted on stairs, it is fitted lengthwise, so the rows of loops run from the height of the stairs to the base. This stops the smiling effect on the front nosing of the stair.
Assume your stairs are open on one side (or both sides), and the carpet has to wrap around the external edge of the staircase. In that case, there is a chance that, with a Berber, some of the backings could show as the carpet is now being bent in the reverse direction. With a higher-quality Berber, this should not be an obstacle.
The seams where the carpet has been joined about the posts should not be too noticeable with proper fitting. Certain carpet types do hide seams better than others; longer piles such as friezes and saxonies cover them better than short or looped piles.
Open Stairs
If the stairs are exposed on the side, then the carpet must be buckled in two ways: lengthwise over the front of the stair and widthwise covering the side. In these situations, there is the possibility of smiling to occur on the side of the stairs.
To avoid side carpet “smiling”, look for a high-quality Berber with more generous loops, covering the area between the rows when bent sideways. Higher characteristics of Berbers will have less space among the rows.
Installation of Carpet on Stairs
There are two means of installing carpet on the stair: waterfall or French cap. The waterfall approach involves simply bending the carpet over the stair’s edge and bringing it straight down to meet the next step’s tread. It is a fast and straightforward way to install the carpet, and for this purpose, many new carpet layers use this method.
The French cap system wraps the carpet around the edge of the stair and tucks it beneath the lip, contouring to the step’s shape. This approach may require more time and skill on the installer but offers a tailored look that you may favour.
Stringers
Stringers are the side supports for the staircases. If your stairs are sealed in, the stringer will run adjacent to the wall at the same angle as the staircase.
Should you cover this with the carpet or paint it over?
The solution, like so many others, depends on what you favour. The carpet on the stringers is solely aesthetic; it does not serve any additional purpose. Suppose your stairs or stringers are jagged, as with an older home or a rough DIY job.
In that case, it may be a good plan to cover the stringer with carpet to help mask the flaws. Unless the look of the carpet on the stringer could be deemed somewhat dated. The more contemporary or modern style is to leave the stringers uncovered and paint them the identical colour as the trim or stain them the colour of the hardwood stairs.
So, What Are The Best carpets For Stairs
The best carpets for staircases is one that satisfies all of the factors described above: durability, proper thickness and soil resistance and protection. While there is no exact carpet that is unequivocally the most outstanding carpet for stairs, maybe contacting your local carpet business in Melbourne is a good solution. With proper selection and installation, the carpet can create a beautiful finished look on the stairs.
You can also consider the warranty on any carpets you buy, whether they are for bedrooms, lounge rooms, stairs or hallways.