Can You Put Vinyl Plank Flooring on Stairs?

The Short Answer

On a floor, vinyl plank is usually a floating floor: the boards click together and rest on the subfloor. A staircase cannot work that way, because every step is a short, separate surface that takes the full weight of a foot at its front edge. So on stairs the same plank is handled differently. Each tread and riser is measured and cut on its own, bonded to the stair with adhesive, and finished at the front with a nosing piece. Rigid-core planks are the usual choice because they resist dents and stay flat right to the edge.

What the Job Involves

• Taking up what is there. Carpet, pad, tack strips and staples come off first, and every step is checked for squeaks, loose treads and damage before anything goes down.
• Dealing with the bullnose. Many older stairs have a rounded front edge that overhangs the riser. It is either cut back flush so a flush stair nose can be fitted, or covered with an overlap nosing. Which one is right depends on the stair and the plank.
• Risers, then treads. Risers are usually covered first. Then each tread is cut, glued and fitted with its nosing, working from the bottom step up or the top step down.
• Matching the floor above and below. Using the same plank as the hallway or basement floor, with a matching nosing at the top step, makes the staircase look like part of the floor instead of an add-on.

If you are wondering who takes up the old carpet, read do flooring installers remove old flooring.

Safety on a Hard Staircase

Carpet is soft and grippy. A hard staircase is easier to keep clean, but how safe it is comes down to the details:

• A stair nose made for the plank. The nosing is the part your foot finds first, so it has to be solid and fixed down, with no hollow overhang.
• Texture over gloss. A plank with a textured surface grips better than a high-gloss one. Ask to see the actual product on a step before you choose.
• Light at the top and the bottom. A busy wood-look pattern can make the edge of a step hard to see. Good lighting, or a nosing in a slightly different tone, helps.
• Wet boots. This is the Michigan part. Snowmelt and road salt come in on boots all winter, and a wet hard step is slippery. Put a mat at the bottom of back-entry and basement stairs, and keep boots off the stairs when you can.

Why People Ask in the Fall

The first frost of the season was forecast across Southeast Michigan for the morning of October 17, and the boots-and-salt months come next. Basement stairs and the stairs up from a side door take most of it, which is why many homeowners in Detroit, Dearborn, Livonia, Canton, Westland and Taylor swap worn stair carpet for something that wipes clean before winter. Basement stairs are often the most practical place for vinyl, and they usually lead down to a floor that has to handle moisture too. Our guide to basement flooring in Metro Detroit covers that part.

Vinyl, Carpet or Hardwood?

Each one has a fair case. Carpet or a runner is the quietest choice and the softest under bare feet, and many families with small children or older relatives keep it for that reason. Vinyl plank shrugs off water and scuffs and can match an LVP floor nearby. Hardwood treads suit an older house with oak on the main floor, and sometimes that oak is already under the stair carpet and only needs refinishing. If you are not sure what is under yours, lift a corner of the carpet at the top step and look.

What Sets the Price

Staircases vary too much for one number. What drives the cost is the number of steps, whether the stair has open sides, a turn or a landing, the nosing style, whether the old bullnose has to be cut back, and how much carpet and tack strip comes off first. Call (313) 236-4558 for a price on your job.

Planning Around Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year. Stairs take longer than a room of the same size, because every step is measured, cut and glued by hand, and the adhesive needs time before the steps take normal traffic. Your installer will tell you how long to stay off them. If the staircase is the only way upstairs, plan the day around it, and book in late October or early November so the work is finished before guests arrive.

Talk to a Local Crew

We install luxury vinyl plank flooring and stair treads across Metro Detroit. We will look at your staircase, tell you which nosing suits it and how long the steps will be out of use. Call (313) 236-4558 Sunday to Thursday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Friday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, or send us a message through our contact form.