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.
Carpet versus hardwood on stairs.
When it comes to safety.
Installing hardwood floors can cost between 9 and 12 per square foot compared with about 3 to 5 per square foot for carpet so some homeowners opt to install hardwood floors only in some.
Hardwood is a good because high traffic throughways would benefit from a durable low maintenance flooring.
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.
I was barefoot having just taken off my slippers that merit their name.
I was not a fan of carpeting before moving into my current home where the stuff covers two stairwells and the whole second floor.
Cleaning and maintenance of hardwood flooring and carpet.
Carpet is the safer choice.
Hard surfaces are slippery and can easily lead to a fall.
I m even more of a detractor now that it has caused me to fall three times on the stairs with the most recent incident on monday drawing some blood i m not an especially clumsy person.
Carpet on the other hand would muffle those high traffic sounds and make for a safer stairway.
Having carpet on the stairs doesn t necessarily prevent falls but it helps to provide traction compared to hardwood.
Carpeted stairs will obviously accumulate more dust and dirt.
The alternative is real hardwoods for our main floor and stairs both up and down and throughout the hallway.
Slippery carpet stairs are however not as dangerous as hardwood floors since they provide a soft landing thus the fall will hurt a little less.
Besides most homeowners with nice wooden stairs wouldn t be considering carpeting in the first place would they.
Which is right for me.
The adage better safe than sorry definitely applies to stairs.
Safety should always come first an as unbelievable as it may sound a carpet will not prevent you from slipping and falling down the stairs.
If you do have hardwood stairs you may want to consider a runner to increase safety.
A staircase rug is also soft to the feet.
This noise may be a result of children once young kids learn all about the staircase they will use them relentlessly.