Carpet vs LVT on stairs and landings: which should you fit?

What the cost actually depends on

Our published starting prices are 18 pounds per square metre supplied and fitted for carpet and 45 pounds per square metre supplied and fitted for LVT, and on a hallway, stairs and landing our indicative range is 480 to 780 pounds for carpet against 900 to 1,250 pounds for LVT. Those figures assume mid range materials, standard subfloor preparation, uplift and disposal.

On a staircase the material price matters less than the shape of the stairs. Straight flights are quick. Winders, a half landing, open sides with visible stringers, or a curved bottom step all add labour, and they add far more labour to LVT than to carpet because every tread and riser is cut, scribed and bonded individually.

• Step count and whether there are winders or a half landing.
• Open or closed sides, and whether spindles need scribing around.
• Condition of the existing treads once the old covering comes off.
• Nosings, edge trims and stair rods, which LVT needs and carpet largely does not.
• Whether the landing continues into the hallway as one run.

Grip and safety, the point people underestimate

A staircase is the one place where slip resistance stops being a nice to have. Carpet gives grip in socks, in slippers and in the dark, and it forgives a missed step. Hard flooring on stairs does not, particularly on the top step and particularly with children or older relatives in the house.

LVT can be fitted safely on stairs, but doing it properly means a matching stair nosing on every tread so the edge is defined and protected, and it is worth accepting that socks on LVT treads will always be less secure than socks on carpet. If someone in the household is unsteady, that alone usually settles the decision.

Noise, and why flats and hallways behave differently

Carpet with a good underlay absorbs footfall. A staircase in a busy family house is the loudest thing in it, and carpet is the cheapest acoustic treatment you will ever buy. LVT reflects footsteps, and on a timber staircase it can amplify them into the room below.

This matters most in flats and maisonettes, where a lease may require impact sound to be controlled. Our underlay guide and acoustic flooring guide cover the detail, but as a rule of thumb: if the staircase sits over a habitable room and sound has ever been an issue, carpet the stairs and put LVT in the hallway instead.

Wear and how each one ages

Carpet on stairs wears at the nosing first, because that is where every footstep lands. A dense, well specified carpet on a correctly tensioned underlay will hold up for years, but the front edge of each tread is always the part that goes. Stair rods and a good fit help; a cheap carpet on a bad underlay does not.

LVT wears far more slowly and cleans up completely, which is why it suits a hallway or a rental hall and stairs where muddy boots, buggies and dog paws come through every day. The failure point with LVT on stairs is not the surface, it is the bond and the nosing. Fitted onto a sound, prepared tread it will outlast several carpets.

• Heavy through traffic and dirt from outside: LVT ages better.
• Barefoot family use and comfort: carpet ages more gracefully in feel.
• Pets with claws: LVT, every time.
• Frequent redecoration and changing taste: carpet is cheaper to change.

Moisture and what sits at the bottom of the stairs

Stairs themselves rarely get wet, but the bottom two steps and the hallway do. Wet coats, dripping umbrellas and a front door that opens onto the street all land in the same square metre. Carpet there stays damp and marks; LVT wipes clean.

That is exactly why the mixed approach is so common in the houses we fit. LVT in the hallway and on the lower run where the wet comes in, carpet up the flight and across the landing where comfort and quiet matter. A well set out threshold and a matching door bar make it look deliberate rather than compromised.

What fitting each one actually involves

Carpeting a staircase is gripper, underlay and a tensioned fit, waterfall or cap and band depending on the look you want. It is a one day job on most domestic flights and the stairs are usable the same evening.

LVT on stairs is a different piece of work. Old coverings and every gripper nail come off, treads are checked for movement and packed or screwed where they creak, risers and treads are cut and bonded individually, and each nosing is fitted and left to cure. It takes materially longer than carpet on the same flight, and the stairs need to be left alone while adhesive sets. That difference in time is in the quote, and it is the honest reason LVT stairs cost what they do.

So which is right for you?

Choose carpet on the stairs and landing if the house is family occupied, if the staircase sits over a living space, if anyone in the household is unsteady, or if you simply want the stairs to feel warm and quiet. That covers most of the homes we quote.

Choose LVT if the stairs are part of a hard wearing hallway run, if pets or heavy dirt come through daily, if you are fitting out a rental or an HMO where cleaning between tenancies matters more than comfort, or if you want one continuous material through a small open plan ground floor. Be prepared for the extra labour, insist on proper nosings, and accept the trade off on sound.

If you cannot decide, the mixed specification is not a fudge. It puts each material where it performs, and we quote it as one job so the thresholds line up.