Besides most homeowners with nice wooden stairs wouldn t be considering carpeting in the first place would they.
Carpet versus hardwood stairs.
Carpeted stairs require regular vacuuming and an occasional cleaning to keep them in top shape.
Carpeted stairs will obviously accumulate more dust and dirt.
Hallways and stairs benefit from either option.
Hardwood can easily be damaged by water.
I am tempted for looks and safety to rip up the carpet on the stairs.
Having carpet on the stairs doesn t necessarily prevent falls but it helps to provide traction compared to hardwood.
Hardwood is a good because high traffic throughways would benefit from a durable low maintenance flooring.
Wood is louder than carpet.
While carpet fibers are immune to water damage the backing fabric can foster mold and mildew.
This noise may be a result of children once young kids learn all about the staircase they will use them relentlessly.
Which is right for me.
Beautiful hardwood stairs will be ruined by the addition of carpeting because the tack strips need to be nailed down creating holes in the wood.
Neither carpet nor hardwood flooring are recommended for damp or constantly humid conditions such as bathrooms for basement slabs.
Carpet is the safer choice.
Carpeting on stairs is automatically going to accumulate more dust and dirt than hardwood.
If you do have hardwood stairs you may want to consider a runner to increase safety.
In addition should a fall ever occur carpet offers a much softer landing spot than wood flooring which could help reduce the likelihood of injury.
The alternative is real hardwoods for our main floor and stairs both up and down and throughout the hallway.
Carpet on the other hand would muffle those high traffic sounds and make for a safer stairway.
Unfortunately it seems the carpet s just not very high quality.
If you choose carpet i would suggest a darker color to help hide any pet accidents than the lighter carpet shown if you choose a hardwood keep in mind anytime you do a hard surface on stairs it will be more of a slippery surface and the cost on materials and labor is usually more as well i would suggest going to your local flooring store and get an estimate on both options.
Hardwood stairs are easy to clean and maintain with a broom and a mop.
When it comes to safety.
Hard surfaces are slippery and can easily lead to a fall.
Cleaning and maintenance of hardwood flooring and carpet.
Also unfortunate is that we can t afford to replace that stain showing beige ness in every room.
Both materials can be scorched or burned by cigarettes.
Where carpeted stairs really excel is in houses that have noisy stairs.
The adage better safe than sorry definitely applies to stairs.