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Stair Flooring Installation

Stairs take more time than any other part of a flooring job, step by step and cut by cut.

Jacksonville Flooring Contractors HQ connects you with a local installer who can quote them with the rest of your floors.

Here is why they cost what they do.

Call (904) 555-0186Talk to a local flooring contractor

What your quote should list

  • Number of treads and risers, and any landings
  • Material for treads, risers and nosing, named by product
  • Removal of old carpet, tack strip and staples
  • Repairs to loose or squeaky treads
  • Finish or stain, if wood
  • Transitions at the top and bottom

Your Three Main Choices

Hardwood treads. Solid treads with painted or stained risers look classic and can be refinished later. They are the most work and usually the most expensive.

Vinyl plank with stair nosing. Plank is cut and glued to each tread, with a matching nosing piece on the front edge. It matches a vinyl floor downstairs and handles wear well.

Carpet. Quiet and soft, and the most forgiving on a slippery staircase. Often priced as a flat fee for the stairs on top of the room price.

Why Stairs Are Priced Separately

Every step is measured, cut and fitted on its own. Old carpet and its tack strip and staples come off first, and loose treads get fixed while they're exposed. That's slow, careful work compared with laying an open room.

So stairs show up as a per step price or a flat fee. Make sure your quote has that line. A quote without it may add the stairs later.

Safety and Comfort

  • Nosing should be secure, with no rocking or overhang that catches a heel.
  • Every tread should end up the same height. A mismatched step is a trip hazard.
  • Glossy finishes on wood treads can be slippery in socks. A matte finish or runner helps.
  • Squeaks are easiest to fix while the treads are bare.

Carpet on Stairs

Stair carpet takes the hardest wear in the house, so fiber matters even more here. Nylon or triexta holds its shape on the nose of each step far longer than polyester. A firm pad helps the edges keep a crisp line.

Carpet can wrap each step fully or run down the middle as a runner over wood treads.

Order of Work

When stairs connect two different floors, the hard floor and the stair nosing usually go in first, and any carpet goes last. If you are painting the risers or stringers, that happens before carpet too.

Planning carpet on the stairs and hard floors elsewhere? See carpet installation and luxury vinyl plank flooring installation.

Matching the Floor Below

Vinyl plank lines sell nosing in the same color, but a quick check that it's in stock saves delays. Hardwood stairs can be stained to match a new wood floor, though different species take stain differently.

If the stairs will be refinished along with an existing wood floor, read hardwood floor refinishing.

Need stairs quoted? Send the estimate form or call (904) 555-0186.

Call (904) 555-0186