Uncarpeted staircases -- how to make them safe?

[lumpkin]

We are lucky enough to have hardwood stairs which are fully finished under the carpet. I am trying to get rid of the carpet in the house and since the carpet is 20 years old, it needs to either go or be replaced. I want to just get rid of it, especially since the stairs are finished. My husband is concerned that they will be too slick and he or the kids will slip in their sock feet. He says there are sticky strips you can put down, but I don't think I want that. Won't they collect dust and cat hair, and all kinds of nasty stuff?

For anyone that has bare staircases, do you have anything like that on them? How do you keep them safe? Or are you just a lot more coordinated than my husband thinks we are?


ETA: I found some rug type strips but you have to tack them down or they have that non slip mesh to put under them like what you put under an area rug (that NEVER works at our house for more than a few days). I know I don't want those.

 

[katebar]

Lumpkin we have polished wooden stairs and have no problem with them. I never actually heard of anyone slipping. We live in a semi tropical climate so most of the time we are bare foot and certainly never wear socks inside. Maybe things get slippery if you do but I love the look of wooden stairs and it so much cleaner and less dusty.

 

[sarahthewarrior]

The staircase to our basement is finished wood and also very steep and narrow, and no one in my family has ever taken a tumble. I''m sure I''ve been down those steps in all sorts of feet (bare, shod, stocking) without incident. Any type of hardwood floors can be a little slippery (especially in socks) after finishing/cleaning, so I''d be careful during those times. I don''t think there''s any need for extra precautions, though, aside from a sturdy banister.

Go bare!

 

[Lynn B]

I just have one word for you: HANDRAIL!

We have beautiful, finished hardwood floors throughout our home and our stairs are also hardwood. Right after they were refinished they did seem a little "slippery", especially in socks. But within weeks, that slickness went away and they are now fine.

We have a handrail on the staircase, though, and we use it! And we have never had any problems.

LOTS of people have hardwood stairs, and keep them bare. Like you, I have just never found any kind of tread or tape that I thought was the least bit attractive!

You''ll be in good company... and I think you''ll be just fine.

 

[lumpkin]

See, that''s what I think, ladies. I would be more concerned if our stairs were steep but they have nice treads on them and I can place my whole foot on them. I did once live in a 2 story apartment and my then boyfriend fell down those, but he slipped on the carpet. Those stairs had really short treads.

Anyway, I found a product that''s like a varnish that puts down a non slick surface and it''s supposed to be ideal for wood stairs. It''s worth a try, if it sucks I''ll strip it off and refinish. Better than those ugly strips!

Thanks for the input. My husband is like a mother hen with the kids.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Our main staircase is hardwood with no carpet. I love that there is no carpet to get all dirty or worn. Our back staircase is carpeted, and that is because it never had hardwood underneath. I wish we had made it hardwood at the time, except that staircase is the one the kids use a lot, so it is a little quieter.

 

[sumbride]

We have two wood staircases in our house and when we first moved in (after a complete renovation) they were very slippery! I''ve tumbled down a couple of times and M has as well. We looked into all the different tread tapes and such and M was very set on carpeting them for a while, but it''s gotten better now that they''ve been used for almost 2 years. We don''t polish them, of course, but when we do wipe them down with a wood cleaner, I make sure it''s one that doesn''t have any waxes in it and we let them dry throughly before using them. Also the hand rails get a lot of use!

I think I''m most uncoordinated in the morning, when the blood hasn''t been flowing all that well, so then I wear slippers with treads and it helps a lot. The most important thing is just to be aware of each step. Both times I fell I wasn''t really paying attention to what I was doing.

 

[VegasAngel]

Lillian Vernon has non-slip stair treads w/rubber backs but those are probably the same as what you said you didnt want.

 

[divergrrl]

Lumpkin: I am in the same boat as you. My DH ripped off half the carpet on our stairs & they are gorgeous 100year old hardwoods underneath. we are painting the risers white & leaving the treads natural. Those stairs lead up to the kids rooms (my 2year old & soon to be daughter''s room). My 2 year old is just as good on the half of the stairs that is uncarpeted as he is on the half with carpeting...but they are nice wide stairs. (and its only half ripped off, because apparently that carpet installer thought 1,000 nails per step was neccessary. We got tired. hooooooooo....

I''ve been worried that he''ll slip and fall, but I only buy him socks with rubber grippies on the soles & we all have slipper shoes with rubber soles which helps.

FWIW, I fell down a flight of wood stairs in my old house in pantyhose-clad feet after a rough day of work with a scalding hot cup of tea in my hand. Between the bruises on my back & the burns on my arm...it sucked. That''s why I''m scared. But my parent''s house has uncarpeted gorgeous wood stairs & my son handles those fine too.

Use handrails, be careful going up and down stairs & it''ll be fine.

Let me know the name of that stain that''s not slippery if you can. Thanks!

Diver

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I WISH we had hard wood stairs b/c I HATE cleaning carpet on the stairs. I feel like they never look good. I also have wondered on the safety of bare stairs so I will be following this thread. Though the only time I did fall down the stairs they had carpet. Oh, I was in pain for a week! It was horrible.

 

[asscherisme]

I have actually falled down my carpeted stairs twice. I must be very uncoordinated!

The first time was when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. My husband and son were standing at the top of the stairs and freaked out. I fell down about 10 stairs and really hurt myself prety badly. Thank goodness my baby was fine but I was really bruised up and sore. We had carpet at the bottom too and I''m sure that broke the impact of my fall. I simply lost my balancd. Easy to do when you can''t see your feet LOL.


The second time was just afew months ago. Different house and we have tile at the bottom and I was carrying a laundry basket . I was home alone and fell and was laying at the bottom of the stairs cursing I hurt so much. did something nasty to my back. I''m extra careful around stairs now!

My friends son knocked his front teeth out on their all wood stairs by tripping forward when climbing up. Luckily they were baby teeth.

I think just make sure they are not slippery and you don''t wear socks going up and down, espeicallly your kids.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Please, please, PLEASE do something to take the slipperi-ness away from the stairs. When I was in HS I was babysitting for a family with an 8 month old. I was carrying her down their HUGE and highly polished pine staircase when I slipped. Luckily I fell backwards and kicked my feet out so I landed on my back--hanging on to the baby for dear-life--but when my legs went out I cracked my foot on the banister and broke 2 toes. Thank god the baby was okay but to date it was one of the scariest moments of my life because of that little baby. And to boot, I couldn''t go to the hospital for my toes because then I''d have to admit that I almost dropped their baby!!!

 

[monarch64]

We have all hardwood floors also and our solution to the wood stairs dilemma was to carpet MOST of the stairs leaving a few inches on each side uncarpeted, if you know what I mean? The carpet going up and down the stairs is essentially a "runner," and we carpeted the landing above as well. It''s just a very neutral colored berber and while we love the look of just hardwood for stairs, I am a total klutz and even with carpeting I''ve slipped up and down the stairs several times! I''d rather fall on carpeting than hardwood though, that''s for sure.

 

[lumpkin]

We''re not going to take the carpet off the stairs for awhile yet. I have to get the bedroom and bathroom painting finished and we''ve got some other trim work to do. Plus we have another bathroom I''ve already started taking the wallpaper off, so we have several projects to finish first.

For anyone who is interested, here is a link to the site for the product to take the slip off the stairs without it looking like anything was done to them. I have not researched it to see if there are any reviews, so I cannot attest to whether it''s a good product or not. When the time comes to do the stairs, I''ll do some more research and see if I think it''s worth a try.

http://ndclean.com/skidsafe.html?gclid=CJm65-fz94sCFRlmWAodeFA7bg

Thanks for all your input. Looks like it''s about 1/2 and 1/2 as far as how everyone feels about it, so I''m definitely going to do something -- hopefully not recarpeting, but it''s a possibility.

 

[laine]

I grew up with uncarpeted wood stairs and never had a problem. In fact, I think I''ve slipped more on the carpeted stairs I have now (I put my foot too close to the edge and with socks, it slides right off). Obviously, don''t go polishing the stairs on a daily basis, and maybe no socks till you''re used to it (though we always ran around in socks with no trouble), but I think wood stairs will be just fine. I know I''ll never have carpet again, if I can avoid it.

 

[firebirdgold]

I''ve never slipped on wood stairs and I''ve had them all my life since I could walk. I wash mine with Murphy''s soap and I think that''s what my mom always did too. My current stairs are old so they are kind of shallow and steep without a handrail, but no problems so far. Although I must admit to being a bit more cautious in socks.
Otoh, I''ve slipped several times in the past couple of years on my carpeted basement stairs. I''ve slipped in shoes and socks and have fallen pretty badly a few times. (haven''t broken anything, just some lovely bruises.) There''s nothing quite like falling down stairs to give you a fright!

I think as long as you don''t wax or polish them in some way they should be fine.

 

[Catmom]

We have hardwood stairs and have never had a problem. I''m really the only one in my house that wears shoes inside and none of my sock wearers have had a slippage problem.

 

[bujiatang]

I''ve never fallen down stairs and the house I grew up in didn''t have carpet. However, my dad did once. slipped at the top and fell all the way down, landing an all. It was like something out of a cartoon. luckily nothing broke and he was only sore for a time.

I''d say, ditch the socks and the carpet.