Paint or carpet stairs to sell?

[eleventy3isthemagicnumber]

I need to do something with the old, tired staircase.

Thinking of painting them white with a darker top - it's a look I really like and also cheaper than carpet. But I'm doing it with a view to sell sometime in the next year so that matters more than my taste.

Do people like painted stairs, generally? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated!

@Comefromaway

yes, its the patter, stripe or zig zag effect especially. The stairs at Crewe Station are horrendous.

That's useful to know, thanks.

Please could I ask, would low contrast stairs like these be OK?

Like this

The downside is that they do show dirt, but it's easy to clean. I was a bit when someone suggested I removed the minging
somewhat tired carpet and paint it, but I wouldn't carpet them again.
I don't have to vacuum them.

Mine are like these and I love them!
Look at Frenchic Fan Forum on Facebook and put 'stairs' in the search bar. Wish we'd ripped up the old carpet sooner.

@eleventy3isthemagicnumber

Yes because of noise.
the sound would carry horribly through a party wall especially if you have children thundering up and down

Paint is expensive and slow if you want a good finish. Yes you can paint quick and cheap but it shows! A cheap poplyprop carpet at £8sqm looks fine and at that price itfoexnt matter if you rip it up 2 years later.

Honestly, it didn't take long, the finish is fine, and I didn't pick cheap paint. You need floor paint.
Cheap polyprop carpet will look cheap and nasty and will be a pig to clean..

I used Frenchic paint - available from stockists and extremely durable. It's £18 for a tin as me I needed two for the stairs and bannisters. You have to do very thin coats and build it up and then it's as hard as nails after curing time (about 3 weeks).

We are about to paint our stairs. I love the look and much prefer it to carpet.

I wouldn’t want painted stairs mainly because of the noise and the dust. However I would go for paint if planning to sell. It’s a good look and gives the buyer flexibility. I’d rather buy with newly painted stairs & replace with carpet at leisure than have to immediately rip out something unsuitable.

The different opinions on this thread is like a representation of my brain! I keep flipping form one to another.

Currently, thinking of doing a carpet runner. We have to paint the banisters and skirtings anyway, so if we do the whole lot white (with a different colour on the walls) then that's not a huge job, is it? And I've been watching DIY laying carpet runners videos, and it looks doable, with a compression stapler. Will still get a quote for a local company to lay it though, just in case it's affordable...

This looks doable, for example...

(Am I kidding myself?!!)

I hate carpet runners and patterned carpets so both would come out if I bought and I would factor that into what I paid, though I imagine people would do the same if they prefer carpet. I much prefer the painted stairs

Oh dear! Does everyone hate runners with painted stairs? I thought it looked pretty "clean".

It suits the house too (1930s) if that matters at all...

I love runners. That's what I wanted really but we decided to just paint them as it is so much cheaper. Maybe will get a carpet runner in the future.

Whatever the stairs are it wouldn't put me off a house. We bought a house with the most horrendous carpets everywhere. Think patterned old fashioned pub carpets!

Painted with a runner is what I want, I love the look of it, particularly with rods.

Love this sort of look.

Out of all the photos you've posted I like the "painted with a runnner" look.
I have plain wood stairs and your post has inspired me to paint them!
OH would like to carpet them but I'm not keen as other PPs I've slipped on carpeted stairs.
I've laid a stair runner in a previous property. I didn't use staples but carpet tacks and double sided carpet tape. It wasn't difficult.

@MikeUniformMike can I ask what paint you used? Considering doing mine but on a budget. Thanks

Do you need floor paint for the riser or just the step?

I think it was Ronseal, i got it in the clearance section in homebase, as I was on a budget, I think it was £12.99 a few years ago. I've bought some more to do a different room and that's from Wilko - not tried it yet.
www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-red-garage-floor-paint-25l/p/0342015
www.homebase.co.uk/ronseal-diamond-hard-slate-floor-paint-2-5l_p616126

I didn't use red paint - it was slate grey. A small tin (750 ml - £10) should be sufficient.

I didn't particularly want grey, and it was lighter than I'd hoped but it is ok.

Thanks Mike!

love the paint and runner look, my favourite

Floor paint should be tougher than floor paint, so use it for the riser too, or if your steps are quite deep they might not get knocked so much. Mine are not deep, and normal paint (I used satinwood white) looked scruffy quite quickly.

As for dust, a quick run over with a dustpan and brush is so easy compared with getting the vacuum cleaner up and down them.

Paint and runner looks great.