Wood vs Carpet stairs

kaitylin

We are under contract on our condo (woohoo!) and provided everything goes through with the buyers financing we should close May 8th which means we will get to buy the new build we have reserved! We are starting to work on picking our upgrades and are trying to decided what to do regarding stairs. I was initially leaning towards carpet because I have a 10 month old DD and I am worried about hardwood stairs being slippery and dangerous (for me and her when she's a bit older). However we also have cats and one in particular destroys all carpet/rugs we've ever had. Plus he's getting old and throws up a lot and I'm worried about stains. A few people have told me that hardwood really isn't that slippery (I've only ever had carpeted stairs but my sister had laminate and they were VERY slippery). Anyone with experience have any suggestions on which way to go? I like the look of hardwood much better and don't want to deal with replacing carpet in a couple years but I also don't want a huge safety hazard. If we do hardwood on the stairs we will have hardwood through the entire townhome (1900+ sq/ft). Will that be overkill on the hardwood? If we do carpet everything would be would be wood except for the stairs and the hall leading to the bedrooms.

mrs.jacinthe

Hardwood.  I responded in your post on BOH, but I grew up with hardwood stairs and was like 24 or 25 before the first and only time I fell down them.  (Backstory on that is over there.)  When we had carpeted stairs in our house in OH, I fell down them like 1-2x per month.

juno

I've never lived in a house with stairs, so I can't comment on the slippery issue, but IMO there's no such thing as hardwood overkill.  You couldn't pay me to have carpet anywhere in my house.  I've only ever lived on oak flooring, which is an absolute workhorse, but I have read here that some other types of wood are much more fussy to maintain/not scratch, which seems like it might be a particular problem on stairs, where the traffic is more concentrated to one path.

bookers1

funny i was just thinking about this. a few years ago we removed carpet from our stairs and put in nice hardwood to match our kitchen floor. then had dd who is now 23 months. we're always really nervous with her on the stairs and they are slippery. if i were to go back in time i'd choose carpet!

Mryan209

Hardwood times a million.  I hate carpet personally.  Plus, I think it might be odd to have a carpeted hallway and hardwood bedroom.  That's how it would be, right?  Just wanted to make sure I didn't read that wrong.  Maybe it's only because I've never seen it though. 

DefinitelyO

if you don't have carpet anywhere else  you should definitely go with hardwoods!  I think having only carpet on your stairs would look a bit odd.

My friend has hardwood stairs and has fallen 2x, but that is not the norm.  I have carpet stairs - main floor is hardwood, carpet stairs to carpet basement.  I like them - except I'd rather have wood for cleaning purposes - but I don't really mind the carpet. 

sratsey

We had hardwood on the stairs and then put runners in.

The wood had way more traction before the runners were put on them and since the runners were put on, both of my kids and I have slipped twice.  Go figure.

Luvmy2sons

Our house was weird. It had hardwood on the first floor, entryway, etc. Carpeted steps, and hardwood hallway etc. upstairs. We removed the carpet (it was off white and IMPOSSIBLE) to keep clean. and put down wood treads and risers to match the oak flooring in the rest of the house, then had it all sanded and stained to match. It was the best decision ever. With kids, we say "no socks". I just think bare feet are a much safer option while they're younger (and mine are 6 and 5, so not super young... but young enough to rush down the steps and slip). My DH wore socks down the steps a month or two ago (with a full cup of coffee) and slid down the last half. Got coffee EVERYWHERE... even on my 2 story CEILING (seriously, I have NO idea how hard he fell until I saw coffee splatters on my ceiling.)

FoxinFiji

Hardwood with a carpet runner.  It's the best of both worlds.  Runners are easy to replace if they get permanently stained. 

Without carpet our dog wouldn't be able to use the stairs and we ourselves would fall on our butts when we're going up and down the stairs quickly or carrying big things up and down so we can't see the steps.

Knitty

Wood with a runner, or carpet, depending on what is on the floors they adjoin. Totally carpet will hide more dust than a runner will.

I have two kids, and believe me,  you want them as soft as possible. Because they will slip or push each other or attempt to carry a quilt up the stairs and trip on it, and when they fall the carpet is much softer than the wood.

lmspharmd

I totally struggled with this because the price of a wood stair case was SO expensive (our builder charged $6k for an open tread and $2k for closed tread ILO carpeting). We are putting hardwoods on the first floor and the upstairs is carpeting (tile in baths) so we could go either way. I think since you have all hardwoods I would do hardwood but with a runner. We ended up doing a closed tread wood staircase in the foyer and carpet for the back staircase (from the mud room upstairs) -- I have a feeling I will never use the wood stair case because it scares me!

Jena503

The only stairs my kids have slipped on is my friend's carpeted ones. Our wood ones have not been a problem.

However, I am also pretty strict with my kids on the stairs and they know the rules - you always hold the handrail, no playing on the stairs, and carry nothing you can't carry in one hand. I feel like my friends with carpeted stairs are a lot more lenient and it scares the crap out of me.

I know I fell several times on our carpeted stairs when I was a kid... and that's when I wasn't "sledding" down them on a sleeping bag. No mom, I have no idea why the wall at the bottom of the stairs is dented or how I got this bruise on my head...