Stair nosing - Carpet to Wood

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Springbok43, Apr 14, 2021.

  1. Springbok43

    Springbok43 Member

    Hello,

    I am trying to understand how the carpet > wood transition is meant to work at the top of the stairs.

    I plan to have the stairs carpeted. The rest of the flooring is engineered wood. I have included photos of the current situation.

    Stairs1.jpg Stairs2.jpg

    The current plank which comes up short of the stairs can be removed and I have spare flooring to have a single piece of wood to extend to the very beginning of the stairs.

    I am unsure (i) where the wooden flooring should finish (ii) whether I need to order/make a stair nosing piece and (iii) whether the bullnose is meant to be straightened off?

    I was wondering if anyone could share any experiences they have had with similar scenarios, and what worked best?

    Many thanks,
     
  2. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select

    Most fitters would just butt a chrome or brass trim to the flooring and dress the carpet into that. It's not an ideal scenario as you now look to have a trip hazard at the top of the stairs. You could screw ply to the stair treads to raise the height slightly to lessen the transition at the top, but that then means you'll have a larger rise on the second step near the ground floor unless you ply the ground floor to suit, however in practice this is very rarely noticed, you'd notice a trip at the top of the stairs far more.
     
    Springbok43 likes this.
  3. Springbok43

    Springbok43 Member

    Thanks Jord.

    I had not thought of that approach.

    As you mentioned the trip hazard is the main issue, and raising the height with a bit of plywood would resolve that. I will need to find out what the height of the carpet will be when it is laid, so I can ensure the plywood + carpet = the same height as the existing flooring.

    When adding some plywood to address the levels, would you leave the bullnose on the final step as it is or square it off?

    Many thanks,
     
  4. Muzungu

    Muzungu Screwfix Select

    This is exactly the issue that I have been mulling over when I get round to replacing the landing flooring with oak that I have left over from downstairs, overestimated the job so thinking of doing the landing.

    I have a stair runner and was thinking the following, very similar to above.

    The oak planks are 18mm and the adhesive underlay about 4mm so I have will have about 10mm higher top step (taking into account the thickness of the carpet and underlay on the steps leading up) which doesn't sound alot but actually is noticeable when you are in a rythm going up. I was thinking of putting, say 4mm ply just under the runner starting half way up then after a few steps 8mm leading up to the top step. The runner is tacked under the top bullnose which I will square off and attach a wood bullnose butted up to the oak flooring on the landing. This would mean two transitions on the stairs where there is in effect a 4mm higher riser, no idea if that will be noticeable.

    If it is noticeable I could do as suggested and put 8mm all the way up and just have a higher bottom step. The issue is of course safety on the stairs.
     

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