We are in the process of building a new house and one area that we are still undecided on is the flooring ... particularly the flooring on the stairs leading to the top floor and the upper hallway — carpet vs. luxury vinyl plank (LVP).

The builder’s recommendation is carpet, mainly due to “not if, but when you fall” (we have two young kids).

My wife and I are really leaning towards the LVP, however. So much cleaner and better looking (IMO).

Does anyone have any other insight on this? Reasons you think one is better than the other? Reasons to steer clear of LVP on the stairs / hallway?

It’s about $4,700 more to go with LVP, but that’s not a big deal in the big scheme here — we just want to make the right decision. Most of the main floor will be LVP, already.

Question:
Should we go with carpet or LVP on the stairs and hallway?

Choices:
Carpet
LVP

 

$4,700 for for LVP?! Yikes.

I’m no longer in the field (insurance restoration), but I rarely saw LVP or laminate for that matter on stairs. The few times I did... yeah, it wasn’t pretty. My opinion is to make the stairs hardwood that matches the rest of the flooring, or carpet should you have carpet off the hallway.

I'm also trying to visualize how to install the LVP on the stairs and have the edges finished to look good.

We have ceramic tile on our main floor and LVP in the basement, but the stairs are carpet. No way I'm going to risk a fall with slippery stairs.

Story #1 - Vinyl Tile
Having been a kid decades ago I can tell you from experience falling down stairs covered in vinyl tile with a metal nose hurts. I was a sleep walker and took a nose dive down our basement stairs. My parents were accused of child abuse and I looked like someone took a ball bat to me.

Story #2 - Carpet
I have 3 kids and carpeted stairs in our current house. Have you tried cleaning puke off the stairs, not just one step, but all of them! Kids seem to slip on the carpet quite a bit because a lot of times are not wearing shoes, daughter #2 broke her ankle coming down the stairs and oldest daughter has fallen down and up the stairs. My son use to slide down the stairs like it was a slide. All three kids have been hurt in some way.

Recommendation
Devil is in the details. Make sure the stairs are glued AND screwed, no nails as they WILL pop out over time. We have this issue now. Next, go with whatever is durable and looks good. How do you intend on treating the nose of the stairs? Whatever you use, make sure your feet can get a good grip and that there is no sharp edge. Those hard sharp edges are hell on your shins and anything else if you fall.

None of the above, due to issues noted above.

Plain hardwood, probably Oak or Maple and a textured surface, NOT mirror finished.

hardwood on stairs, Oak is what I use, Maple would work well too.

Either a one piece carpet runner the length of the stairs or individual carpet on each tread.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals...4aacff784d7570ef.jpg

http://feelthehome.com/wp-cont...unner-for-Stairs.jpg

or

https://themprojects.com/rugs-...nch-stair-tread-rugs

We have some lifetime LVP in the house. I’m a-ok with it. Looks great. Wears extremely well. Easy to clean. I’m quite happy with it.

Are the steps in yet? If so what are they made of? I retired out of the flooring business 8 years back but I'm trying to visualize how they intend on covering treads and risers with LVP? I would hate to see a fake looking plastic or metal edge on a stair nose in a nice home.

Carpet just doesn't hold up long on steps in an active home unless it's a high quality nylon commercial type carpet.

If slip and fall is a concern a carpet runner can be attached up the center of wood (or LVP) stairs, there are any number of options from patterned to a tight woven durable tweed carpet runner. It's a *lot* easier to build the stairway with hardwood from the beginning. I can't tell you how many customers we had come in asking about having carpet removed from their steps and covering them with wood. Back then it cost roughly $120-$150 per step or around $2,000 plus skirt board replacement if necessary. Often the dimensional lumber was glued as well as nailed on. The stringers had to be shimmed as the oak treads were 5/8" thinner than the 1 1/2" soft wood treads. If it were my home I'd go with hardwood treads and risers.

I am in the process of a complete home rebuild as well, and was considering doing commercial vinyl treads and risers but my hardwood floor guy will do them in maple or oak for a similar cost (less that your LVP quote). Are you sure of that figure? It seems a little high to be the difference between carpet and LVP. They do have some pretty neat stair tread systems for LVP, but wood would be my choice. I think we are pretty close, shoot me an email if you want to talk specifics.

We put LVT in our house over three floors, 3800 ft.², a lot of stairs. We put it everywhere, except bathrooms where there was tile. It’fantastic, only regret is that we did not do it sooner. You can slip and fall on carpet almost as well as on any other surface, vinyl, hardwood floors, etc. We got Duramax from Mannington, great product! I highly recommend their floor cleaner too, as other cleaners we tried did not come close to what the floor looks like with their product!

They have a complete tread system (as well as riser if you want it) for LVP installs. Some systems use additional texture elements (grooves/pitting) to provide additional grip. To me the grooved/pitted ones seem to be a housekeeping nightmare. Dirt would constantly be settling in those spots and the the high spot of the pattern would wear faster. I'd personally opt for hardwood.

I just installed Manington Adura Rigid LVP in my basement and did the stairs. I Tore out the existing carpet and vinyl sheeting. The sheet vinyl removal was a PITA!.

Here's where I bought mine:
https://www.weshipfloors.com/

Mannington Adura
https://www.mannington.com/Res...ank/Iron-Hill/RGP631









The nosing from the manufacturer was astronomically priced IMO. I end up using aluminum stair nosing from Menards. I had some of the Adura flooring left from the upstairs when I did that 9 years ago. I used that on the treads and the new flooring on the riser face. I made my own riser tool to cut the vinyl treads and risers, because reasons

^ looks good xantom!

Thanks for the insight guys. More to think about.

As somebody who moves stuff up and down stairs daily:

The better the stairs look, the more upset you're going to be when the stairs get damaged in some fashion. I have yet to be on a set of really good looking stairs, even in brand new homes, that haven't already been scratched, scuffed, dented, etc.

Even if you don't want fully carpeted stairs, I'd suggest considering a runner down the middle. When it gets messed up it is easily removed and replaced.

My gosh. Why did I open this....

On the bright side, your inspiration is going to make me better at all of this!

LVP for the flooring and solid oak for the steps.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
LVP for the flooring and solid oak for the steps.

I agree (so no vote in the poll). a1abdj's runner suggestion is also a good one, but make sure it is properly secured at each step or it can become a dangerous tripping/fall hazard.

Oak treads and risers.