How long would you expect a stair carpet to last?

[RaspberryCoulis]

We replaced a carpet on our stairs about 7 years ago after having some other work done in the house.

There are 5 of us living here, lots of traffic up and down the stairs. I did try to implement a "no shoes upstairs" rule but that wasn't always adhered to.

The carpet is starting to look very worn and almost threadbare, especially on the bottom and top stairs. It wasn't a cheapy cheapy carpet, but neither was it the most expensive one. Mid-range. Fitted professionally with underlay and everything

Is it unrealistic to expect a stair carpet to last more than 7 years?

Depends on if you chose a type of carpet suitable for heavy traffic areas tbh, price doesn’t necessarily reflect the suitability.
We don’t wear shoes in the house, but there are only 3 of us, when we moved out our stair carpet (which had a 10 year wear guarantee) had been down around 11 years and was still faring well.

Mine has been down about 23 years now and it's got years left in it. It really does depend on type. I wish I had a clue what mine was but I really can't remember!

Honestly, I can;t remember what was said to the carpet shop at the time. It's a local shop staffed with a guy who has run a carpet shop for about 40 years and really knows his stuff. We definitely told him it was for a stair.

It's a stripe carpet up the stairs and a plain colour on the landing, so luckily we won't have to replace the lot, just the stair. Will definitely be looking for something very hard wearing.

Or maybe I'll get that plastic stuff people used to put on the middle of the tread in the 70s...

We had ours changed after 20 years and it had years left, not threadbare anywhere, the pile was flattened but it looked fine.

We have had a wool/nylon mix with a high knot count and it lasted 15 years. A big flat by then but no wear. Would have had it longer but we remodelled the stairs!

Our stairs now have oak treads. No carpet worries and not a mark on them after 10 years. They will last a lifetime. You really need a very robust carpet for family stairs. Or go with wood.

Ours has been down 10 years and still looks perfect.
We don't wear shoes in the house, even downstairs.

Ours is 18 years old. 5 of us but we’ve only been here 3.5 years so family of 4 before us lived here. It’s the carpet the builder put in new and it’s definitely flat and old but not thread bare. I’ll replace it when puppy isn’t a puppy so probably 2 years from now.

Ours is 4 years old, no shoes upstairs, family of 5. Quite an expensive wool mix with underlay, specifically for stairs / heavy traffic and looks awful most of the time. Its got the kind of bobbling you get on wool jumpers. Its not threadbare or flat but I can't wait to replace it. Unfortunately our odd shaped landing is covered in the same stuff. I didnt expect it to look tired so quickly.

No shoes, 6 of us, carpet was in the house when we moved in 19 years ago and is only now looking a bit dodgy.

Ours has been down 20 years and has not worn at all really, it has faded a bit where the sun comes through a window at the top and I want to replace it as the pattern is a bit dated but DH just keeps saying it is hardly worn, I feel like trying to wear it out a bit. Only 3 of us for most of its life though and slippers

We moved into our current house over 16 years ago. The stair carpet ( very short pile) had been down for at least 5 years and is still going strong now. I would not be at all
Impressed with one that needed replacing after only 7 years!

Short pile twist around 50 Oz or more classification with some nylon or man made fibre with wool. Short twist flattens less. Avoid loop or longer piles.

Ours is a beige wool blend with a sort of pattern of raised and dipped bits in tiny rectangles (described that really crappily) and it's been down about 14 years now, still looks good. We're a family of 4 with a dog, generally no shoes in the house.

Meant to say I remember it was classed as heavy domestic and wasn't cheap, but wasn't frighteningly expensive either.

@BrigitsBigKnickers

We moved into our current house over 16 years ago. The stair carpet ( very short pile) had been down for at least 5 years and is still going strong now. I would not be at all Impressed with one that needed replacing after only 7 years!

No, i'm not impressed either. I remember the house I grew up in had one of those swirly 70s monstrosities and it was there for at least 15 years before replaced - and only then because it was so dated.

I can't remember what the brand of the carpet was, or even what it's made from. But it looks very much like this one which says "heavy domestic use". I can't remember what we paid for it either, we bought it at the same time as doing other work on the house and it all sort of rolled into the same spend.

www.tapi.co.uk/carpet/stockholm

A carpet should last longer than 7 years IMHO, our carpets are 17 years old and still look good.

Mine is 7 years old and needs replacing but I made the mistake of getting a deep pile and I have cats who like to find a loose thread and play with it.
Going to replace it in spring with a short cut carpet up the stairs and a luxury vinyl in the hall.

My last stair carpet still looked good when the flat went on the market after twenty years. My brother, on the other hand, had to replace his after six months due to cat damage.

We had our previous carpet for 15 years and only replaced as I wanted a change of colour scheme, the new carpet we bought is stripy and looks awful after just 5 years, stringy at the edges too. I'll be replacing it as soon as I can afford it

Ours is down 8 years and still looks ok? It’s a light colour so a few dirty marks but not worn. It’s the same carpet as the livingroom, which has more traffic, and that looks ok too. It was wool mix and around £30 psm from John Lewis. My parents carpet has been down over 20 years, it’s a dark colour so good at hiding dirt but not worn.

We recently sold a house we'd lived in for 13 years and the carpet was there when we moved in. Cream and very unforgiving but we (my dh!) had a very strict no shoes policy and although I'm more lax it really does work. Hovers everyday almost and cleaned regularly (we have a proper carpet cleaner) and before selling it still looked great. 2 adults, 1 dc and a dog that slept upstairs.

Mines 80/20 wool and would be like new five years later if the feckin cats didn’t use it as a scratching post.

Ours is 20+ years old and I can’t justify changing it though I’d love to.

Ours is about 7 years old and still looks like new. It's a heavy duty one though and we went patterned as it hides a multitude of sins... . We don't allow shoes on it though

Swirly carpets were often Axminster or similar. John Lewis sell very well priced 80/20 carpets for high traffic areas. We have capers on the landings. Velvet cut though and darkish colour. Not a mark anywhere. They are in three bedrooms too so we have continuity.