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Stair Flooring
Either Carpeting Wood or Tile
Stair Article Tip
What you cover the stair
treads with whether it is carpeting, wood flooring or tiles this
will make the largest impact visually as you walk into the front
door and gaze upon the stairway. Please keep in mind some wood
and floor tiles could be slick or slippery. Most people
like the look of wood on a stairway because of its elegance.
Floor tile of course is even slippery if you get a glazed tile.
If you like the look of wood you can always run a carpet runner
down the center of the stairs either over the wood or built in
to the stair system.
Stairs, Stairwells, Carpet, Tiles and Timber
Flooring
By Courtney Beard
Flooring in areas surrounding staircases should be practical and
hardwearing, be able to shrug off dirt brought into the house,
and be safe. But at the same time, flooring also offers a chance
to make a statement about the whole house.
A floor particularly in the stairwell positioned in a homes
entrance area should be warm, welcoming and in keeping with the
style and decoration of the surrounding rooms. Stairways can
often have the best floors in the house. The trick is to
appreciate them.
Carpeting your staircase and landings reduces the noise and
controls the dust. If you have a narrow set of stairs, a carpet
runner could be used as an alternative as it still reduces
noise, but because it is narrower than the staircase, it helps
increase the apparent width. A vertical strip down the carpet
runner can also help. |
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Pale carpets are not always recommended for staircases as they
get dirty very quickly and cleaning won’t bring out some stains.
Carpet may not be a good option if you want to add to the light
as carpet trends not to the reflective. If carpet is to be
installed in a stairwell where you are required to add light,
don’t be tempted to carpet a staircase in a shade that is
already dirt colored such as mud's and coffees.
The fact that staircases are a high traffic area means to a
carpeted staircase requires consideration. The edge of a tread
of a carpeted staircase needs to be round to prevent premature
wearing of the carpet on the nosing line. Wear and tare is the
menace of a carpeted staircase.
Stairs can benefit from changes of pace, color and texture.
Simple or plain carpets are better because wild patterns can be
deceptive and cause you to trip, although they can be as
decorative and distinctive as a wooden or stone floors. For
example, you can put a different colored strip of carpet from
the rest down the middle that follows the direction of the walls
or stair. Neutral colors set off brighter colors on the walls.
Flooring and a staircase can be brought together. The floor can
be divided into chunks that has width and depth similar to a
stair tread. A handrail can divide the stair and similar
flooring like an abstract painting. Like wise the gentle curve
of a geometric stair and the simplicity of the construction
makes it perfect contrast for a very busy, colorful floor - this
can be done with tiles, timber or carpet finish.
With multi-patterned flooring such as with encaustic tiles, the
simplicity of the stair can be increased by picking just one or
two shades from the floor and repeating them on the stair. If
the size of a tile in proportion to the floor space is carefully
considered the ever popular black and white tile never fails to
look elegant.
A floor covering that is a contrast to the staircase helps make
to stair safe. Any contrast between the materials or in the case
of timber, direction of the grain aids the eye in distinguishing
between the steps of the staircase and the staircase entry and
exit points.
When considering timber flooring the wealth of choice is
endless. A stairwell’s floor can be individual design and styled
to site a staircase. In the case of parquetry before you start
selecting timbers, the possible styles you can consider are
Lineal: "straight lines", Herringbone: "angled blocks", Double
herringbone: "two blocks next to each other in same pattern as
herringbone", Basket Weave or a Square on Square. All these
designs can be altered by laying them in 45o angle or 90o angle
having a stunning effect. Then you can consider Borders to add a
decorative feature to the parquetry floor. The border could also
use contrasting timber give greater effect.
Often it can be best to keep floor treatments as simple as
possible particularly in smaller areas, if a floor gets over
complicated, the space will be spoiled. Therefore, if you have
natural, good looking floors, don’t bother to carpet them unless
the noise is too much. If you must have carpet, go for a plain
version in a strong wearing weave or in smaller houses a striped
runner is good. If you leave the floors relatively plain, you
can go crazy on the walls with color and the stairwells
lighting.
For more information regarding our range of products, staircase
and balustrade options available, visit our celebrated web site
– www.stairking.com.au
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