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Original poster

Replacing carpeted stairs with (fake) wooden stairs - good idea?

14 replies

Elwyn · 28/12/2022 11:45

Most of the house is fake wooden flooring (not Karndean but similar). The only place we have carpet is the stairs and I want to replace it with something else because I find it quite difficult to vacuum (the fluff sticks to it so much). There looks to be real wood under there but not sure of the condition. I could possibly replace it with the fake vinyl wood we have elsewhere but even the man who fitted it in the rest of our house seemed a bit reluctant and I am not sure why! He possibly is worried about people slipping on wood which is fair enough but can you get a special rough surface? My mum says carpet is important in case you fall on the stairs??!! The fake wood at the top and bottom of the stairs is slightly different colours (one fake pine, one fake beech) so possibly I would need a different colour again on the stairs that goes with both, possibly a lighter colour. I have no idea what to do or how expensive all this might be. Can anyone please give me inspiration or tell me what they have done if they had a similar problem? Thanks!

OP posts:
Persipan · 28/12/2022 11:58

Personally (assuming the wood underneath isn't in a condition you can get nice with not too much effort) I would just paint the stairs and not faff around trying to add flooring onto them. Uncarpeted stairs are pretty normal, many people have them!

BarrelOfOtters · 28/12/2022 12:03

We had bare wooden stairs, sanded and varnished the original. Very noisy, made a huge difference when got them carpeted…..

also if you google laminate stairs theirs lots of posts on how to make them less slippy…..

snowsilver · 28/12/2022 12:13

My staircase is polished hardwood and a thing of beauty. It's also a noisy deathtrap. We carpeted over the treads when I was pregnant with DC1 who is now 27. I would never go back to wood.

TeaAndStrumpets · 28/12/2022 12:21

Possibly a different type of carpet would be easier to clean? I always go for beige carpet, it doesn't show fluff.

Hoppinggreen · 28/12/2022 12:22

I have no carpet at all in my house other than on the stairs for safety and noise reasons

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 12:24

You don’t want plain wood stairs as it’s too slippy.
You could pull up the carpet, paint the wood that is there and put in a runner. These carpets are usually flat weave so no fluff.

Replacing carpeted stairs with (fake) wooden stairs - good idea?
TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 28/12/2022 12:25

We took our horrible carpet off and sanded and varnished the stairs.
It looked amazing but was horribly noisy and slippery. Big mistake, and haven't repeated it in any house since. Just look for carpet you like is my recommendation.

Logistically unless you have two stairs it's also a faff to paint as you restrict access for hours. Repeatedly.

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 12:27

Logistically unless you have two stairs it's also a faff to paint as you restrict access for hours. Repeatedly.

I just did every other stair per coat and put a little stuffed toy to mark which ones were not wet paint.

Ohnonevermind · 28/12/2022 12:28

I designed a lovely wooden stairs with our joiner for our old house based on a photo in a magazine , it was lovely and not a death trap, but it was made of oiled solid wood though. You just couldn’t leave stuff on it to bring up or down the stairs 🤣

user143677433 · 28/12/2022 12:28

I’m not sure that you can lay laminate on stairs due to the risers, so you would be restricted to whatever the staircase is already made of. If its a more modern house it is likely to be MDF which wouldn’t look so attractive, although you could paint it and then lay a stair runner.

Funnywonder · 28/12/2022 12:38

We have just acquired stairs due to our bungalow loft conversion. Our neighbours had their loft converted years ago and have a beautiful open tread wooden staircase, which was what I really fancied. We hmmmed and haaaed and then decided, for safety reasons, to have a normal staircase with carpet. It isn't carpeted yet due to needing varnished and it can't come too soon for me. My cousin has a wooden staircase and both she and one of her sons have slipped and fallen on it. It is quite steep though.

Original poster
Elwyn · 28/12/2022 14:20

Thank you, this has all been very useful to hear the discussions and people's experience. I think I will stick with carpet after all but try to get one that is easier to vacuum clean.

OP posts:
stairgates · 28/12/2022 14:37

We have painted the stairs white and stuck on carpet step bits, theyvare cheap and easily changed if they need it. Hammer in so.e carpetvtacks at the back if them for extra security.

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