By Greg Vanden Berge 1/9/2008
What is a stair runner? I've heard of stair climbers and stair builders but what in the world is a stair runner? Well it has nothing to do with exercise, jogging, running or climbing. Actually it is a strip of carpet that you can use in the center of your stairway. The carpet comes in many different styles and colors plus it comes in different widths and thickness.
Don't be alarmed if you have never heard of a carpet runner. Over the years I have been in a lot of homes doing work while remodeling other peoples houses. I've seem a lot of different things in the form of protecting the carpet and furniture. A stair runner is basically just that. A piece of carpet designed to protect the wood stairs.
The stair runner is a great idea for eliminating the constant scrapes and scratches that simple walking up and down the stairs on a daily basis will cause. There is very little we can do about them. A carpet runner will act as a barrier between your shoes and your stairway protecting the wood from future damage. When I say future damage I mean minor damage. If you are going to roll a refrigerator up the stairs the runner might have little effect on the possible damage that can be done to your stairs.
Stair runners can be purchased over the internet and at some building supply stores. They come in different lengths to fit your needs. You will also need to purchase stair rods to install the carpet stair runner. These stair rods come in different styles and lengths. The stair rods are normally screwed into your wood stairs so you will be using the carpet runners from now on.
If you choose to go back to the wood stairway without the carpet runner you will have some patching to do. This is not that big of a problem if done right you will not notice the repaired holes. The reason why I mentioned the screws into the wood stair treads and risers is because they don't tell you this when you are buying the stair runner or stair rods. If you don't want to damage your stairs by screwing the stair rods in find another way to protect your stairs.
The stair runners are pretty easy to install and don't require a building contractor. It is a simple straight forward process.
Another advantage to the stair runner is that they can be changed as often as you like. Your stairway is one of the major traffic areas in the house. You will save your wood stairs a lot of wear by using the stair runner. With out using the stair runner you will end up refinishing the wood stairs in this area. Instead of refinishing the wood stairs you can install a carpet runner and cover up the minor stair damage. This will give you a nice new look to your staircase. Great idea as a alternative to refinishing the stiars.
About The Author:
Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more stair building books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry. Visit Stair Don'ts To find out how not to build your stairs.
