Best Flooring Types for Stairs in 2022

The right type of stair flooring can make or break your home’s appearance. Whether you’re building a new home or remodeling the one you have, there are several factors to consider when choosing the best flooring for stairs.

Staircase size, location, and purpose all factor into flooring choices. Noise, safety, and personal style are other considerations that will help narrow down your choices. Each type of stair flooring has its benefits and drawbacks.

Find out when and where each type of flooring works best and see our recommendations for each category.

1. Carpet

Carpet is a great flooring material for stairs. It comes in a ton of textures, patterns, and colors and buffers noise better than any other kind of flooring. This is a huge consideration for a staircase located near bedrooms, offices, or other areas of your home where keeping quiet is a priority.

Wool carpet looks beautiful but is not the best choice for a busy staircase. Synthetic carpets are much more durable and resist soil and stains better than natural carpet fibers.

The right kind of carpeting also helps prevent staircase slips and falls by providing traction for those traveling up and down. Printed carpet helps camouflage pet hair and dust while turning the staircase into a beautiful focal point. Look for nylon carpet that has built-in stain protection for the greatest durability on high-traffic stairs.

2. Hardwood

Hardwood flooring is a classic type of floor covering that has never gone out of style. Although many materials imitate the look of hardwood flooring, there is no substitute for the rich finish and underfoot feeling of genuine hardwood surfaces.

There are hundreds of hardwood flooring options, including solid wood, engineered wood, and sustainable bamboo. Hardwood floors come in a range of colors ranging from pale birch to deep ebony. Hardwood planks can also be painted in any color—an easier option than stripping and staining worn wooden stairs.

Properly finished, hardwood stairs can last for decades, but you may need to install no-slip treads to keep them from being too slippery under sock-covered feet.

3. Laminate

Laminate stair flooring is a budget-friendly alternative to real wood. It comes in a variety of other styles as well. Because you can purchase textured laminate flooring that provides more traction than wood floors, it makes a great alternative to carpeted stairs.

Laminate flooring is durable and easy to keep clean. It also resists moisture, dents, and dings much more readily than wood. Most laminate flooring is easy to install and replace when necessary. This gives it a clear budget advantage over wood or tile—not only because the product itself is cheaper, but because you can save a lot of money by installing it yourself.

4. Pre-made Stair Treads

Pre-made stair treads are the easy solution for a DIYer who needs to refresh the look of an existing hardwood staircase. Not only are they suitable for a worn wooden stairway, but they’re also ideal for resurfacing a stairway covered in carpeting that only has bare lumber wood underneath.

Pre-finished stair treads are made from edge-glued wood—not laminate or veneered material—so they provide the look of hardwood without the difficulty of creating hardwood stairs yourself. Wood stair treads are available at home improvement centers and flooring stores. Some pre-made stair treads come with attached facing that covers risers in a matching finish.

Carpet stair treads are another option for refreshing tired staircase surfaces. Carpet treads are rectangular carpet mats that cover the center of each step’s surface. Other styles fold over the stair nosing and look more like carpet than individual mats.

5. Stair Runner

A stair runner is an economical type of carpet designed just for stairs. Sold on rolls of a certain width, a carpet stair runner is installed in one solid waterfall down the staircase, bent around each stair nose, and nailed in place. If your stairs are beginning to show signs of wear and tear, a carpet runner is an easy way to refresh them.

Because your original wood floors finish will still show on each side of the runner, it’s a great compromise between carpeted and hardwood stairs. You can still see the beautiful hardwood flooring, but gain the safety of carpet.

You can find this type of stair carpet in solid colors or highly detailed prints that come with matching area rugs for your landings. Most are made of synthetic carpet fiber that has been engineered for extra durability and soil resistance.

6. Tile

Tile flooring is a durable, waterproof flooring material that is common in beach cottages, Mediterranean architecture, and luxury homes. Because of its moisture resistance, tile is ideal for basement stairs and other areas where excess dampness might present a problem.

Natural stone tiles are the most expensive, but their natural textures make them a better choice than smoother tile when it comes to stair surfaces. Glass, porcelain, or ceramic tile mosaics are a beautiful way to enhance stair risers.

Slippery-surfaced tiles are an obvious no-go for stair treads. For safety reasons, be sure to choose a textured tile that provides some degree of traction. A professional tile installer will know not to use wall tiles for flooring, but it would be easy for a DIYer to purchase the wrong type. Step tile must also be thinner than 3/8 of an inch to not affect riser height.

7. Vinyl

If you already have vinyl flooring, you can install vinyl plank or tiles on your stairs.  However, your treads must be completely level for vinyl plank or vinyl tile to install properly. Like classic tile, vinyl tile is another good choice for a basement or kitchen staircase where moisture can be an issue.

Luxury vinyl is considerably thicker and more durable than traditional sheet vinyl flooring. Luxury vinyl plank flooring comes in a wood-plank shape and closely mimics real hardwood colors and textures. Luxury vinyl tile looks like textured stone, ceramic, or concrete tile.