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[AuntKaffy]

I'll most likely be purchasing a condo soon and I've noticed that most newer  condos in my desired area are multi-level (i currently live in a single level).  From the pics I've seen on the real estate websites, the stairs are always carpeted.  At my age, I don't look forward to vacuuming stairs.  Can anyone suggest an alternate covering for stairs ?  TIA !

[151949]

They don't finish stairs the way they used to so you would have to have hardwood or tile or vinyl or laminate or something put on them if you don't want carpet.Because the installation would be tedious with a lot of cutting I would imagine a normal flight of stairs in laminate would cost around $1000 where I live in S Fl. Could be much more where the COL is higher.

[Nightowlz]

My sister had the carpet removed from her home & had hardwood floors installed on the floors & stairs.

[Shelbelle]

Trust me that anything else other than carpet on stairs are so noisy, and very disrupting to your neighbors. I have always had carpet on my stairs, and can hear neighbors next to me who dont at all hours. I say go for the carpet, just use a wisk broom in leiu of a vacuum for the most part. That is what my Mom did at 94 years old in her house.

[MadameQueen]

I was thinking of trying stair treads on my wood attic stairs.  I see them in different sizes and patterns.

[ID2]

When we built our cottage 2 years ago I opted to do hardwood throughout. We were warned that having hardwood on the stairs would make it slippery when using them. We never had a problem. I hate the "old fashioned" look of fully carpeted stairs so we got a cottagy looking runner installed. Love it! Our friends that built their cottage nearby, fully carpeted their stairs. I never could understand why. It looks horrible. JMO

[colliegirls]

I saw a segment on aging on one of the morning shows and they stated that uncarpeted stairs are one of the major reasons people, especially the elderly, fall on steps, especially at night.

[qualitygal]

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@colliegirls wrote:

I saw a segment on aging on one of the morning shows and they stated that uncarpeted stairs are one of the major reasons people, especially the elderly, fall on steps, especially at night.

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I'd like to add for my folks when they really couldn't go up and down basement stairs any longer, the tread type material wore out but painted steps when wet are too slippery. Please keep in mind, with age, you need to be aware of footing and how it deterioriates over time. I like carpet on my stairs.

[Lilysmom]

My home is ten years old.  I have hardwood throughout and opted for a runner on the stairs for safety, for sound and for my pet.  I would never opt for bare wood.  Too slippery.

[FastDogWalker2]

My experience with wooden stairs is that they are VERY slippery!  I would rather use the vacuum extenison once a week than risk a fall. We have two staircases in our home and I almost always use the carpet ones - JMO.