laminate on stairs

EssexExile

gingerbreadmen said:

[Deleted User] said:

Sounds like an unsafe plan, i imagine rushing up and down stairs in socks ........ slip and slide all the way to broken/fractured bones etc, can't see this would be a safe idea at all.

You should never rush up stairs. you should take your time going up 1 step at a time and hold the handrail.

And in practice that always happens of course.

gingerbreadmen

EssexExile said:

gingerbreadmen said:

[Deleted User] said:

Sounds like an unsafe plan, i imagine rushing up and down stairs in socks ........ slip and slide all the way to broken/fractured bones etc, can't see this would be a safe idea at all.

You should never rush up stairs. you should take your time going up 1 step at a time and hold the handrail.

And in practice that always happens of course.

Yes It should and if it doesn't you only have your self to blame. 
Like crossing a road you should always look left and right but if you don't and get hit by a car you have no one to blame but yourself. If you know you should do it then do it. 

grumbler

I have wooden stairs. I hate carpets, but still am going to carpet the stairs. Yes, because they are very slippery and noisy. And I don't think that any laminate is less slippery than wood.

Carrot007

[Deleted User] said:

Sounds like an unsafe plan, i imagine rushing up and down stairs in socks ........ slip and slide all the way to broken/fractured bones etc, can't see this would be a safe idea at all.

I have done that on carpet! Still nothing but a few bruises as thankfully I was not at the top!

I can't see a matt laminate being much worse that carpet. But the noise and potential to do damage it would stop me even if I thogugt it was a good idea!

Sistergold

I had laminate installed in my current house. For me it’s the best decision I have ever made in terms of making cleaning easy. Have lived with the laminate on stairs for a year now. In a different house I did fall from top of stairs to bottom and it was carpet and I slipped. In a way it was a “softer” bumpy fall down but still broke a bone. 

I suspect a fall on my current laminate floor would be a harder fall. Yes I have also found that slippers on the laminate stairs are more dangerous than when I have had carpet. The increased fall hazards are evidenced by the fact that on this laminate there has been more mini falls/slips, me and children. The slips have reduced now with more awareness and duty of care and not wearing certain things due to now stairs being laminate. I will still now always keep laminate or wooden floor only because I hate cleaning the carpet on stairs. 

Now that every floor in the house(including bedrooms) is laminate cleaning is a breeze but falling is more likely if not careful enough. 

Ease of cleaning is important to me as I work full time and have 4 children. 

scottishblondie

I've never had a hard surface on stairs, but I have considered it in the past as I thought it would be a nice clean look and easy to keep nice.  A friend had his stairs done and it looked great, he never had any problems with slipping.  I've slipped on carpeted stairs plenty of times!!  Fortunately we're now living all on one level, so I've got hard floor pretty much everywhere!

kdotdotdotdot

It's a cultural thing: the Brits are obsessed with health'n'safety.  I grew up in Germany where it was common to have wooden steps in a house (every bit as slippy as laminate).  Not only wood, but open-tread and spiral! They also have only two-pins in their electric plugs and can put power outlets in their bathroom (how else do you recharge your toothbrush?).  The look on their face when they come to the UK and find the bathroom light switch is on a string hanging from the ceiling, because "safety"!!

That said, I wouldn't do laminate on stairs but more because of noise than slipperiness.  I'd also wonder how firmly one could stick laminate to the stairs.  

Jimmithecat

I have wooden floors throughout - I was told when we uncovered the stairs 25 years ago it would be noisy and a slip hazard - I do not find it either and they look lovely (cherry) and are easy to clean.
i take more care as I get older however as I have arthritis in one foot and know of several people that have had accidents in recent years slipping on just a couple of steps.

comeandgo

We have wooden stairs and yes it is a worry with the grandchildren who are used to carpeted stairs but also no go with stiletto heels.

Hannimal

I'm getting laminate fitted on the stairs so I can tell you in a couple of weeks. The floor man says laminate will look good on the stairs.