How to Install Stair Tread Rugs

Introduction:

If you have hardwood floors and stairs, keeping them clean and waxed protects them and also makes them slippery. Slippery stairs can be a big safety issue, causing people to slip and tumble down the stairs. Tumbling down stairs nearly always results in injuries. Some home owners are reluctant to cover beautiful hardwood stairs with any kind of stair rugs. Unfortunately they risk the safety of the occupants.

You can resolve the safety issue simply by installing stair rugs that are specifically designed to fit the stair steps. You retain the beauty of the wood, as seen around the edges of each rug and avoid the safety hazard of slippery stairs and the wear and tear on each step. In addition, stair rugs also reduce noise. Whether you have a toddler who is new at climbing the stairs or an older individual who can’t risk a fall, having stair tread rugs will protect people from dangerous falls on the stairs. Installing stair tread rugs is an easy DIY task that most homeowners can do without assistance.

How to install stair tread rugs:

1. Many manufacturers ship their treads with double-sided tape. This is not the safest way to install them.  I recommend gluing them down or tacking them in place using small brads. Depending on the rug backing, the glue can works its way to the surface of the rug presenting a non-professional appearance.

Materials and tool required:

• Small carpet tacks or brads for a brad nail gun

• Stair tread rugs

• Pencil

• Hammer or brad gun

• Measuring tape

• Brad nail gun

2.    Find the center on the step for placing the rug and measure its distance to the left and right of the step. Insure it is equal on both sides so the rug will be centered.

3.    From these measurements make a go-no-go gauge from a piece of scrap wood. Use this gauge to place each rug on the stair step. 

4.    If the rugs have a self sealing back peel the back and carefully stick it into place using your go-no-go gauge. If there is no sealing on the back of the rugs spot place a small amount of glue on the back side of the carpet.

5.    Once the rug is in place either tack it in place using small carpet tacks or the brad nail gun at the corners of the rug.

6.    Continue this process until all stair step rugs are in place

Installation tips:

Use very small carpet tacks that are colored according to the carpet rugs, this will prevent them from being seen.

Put the tacks or brads into the seams of the rug in a way that the seam covers them when they’re all the way in.

Don’t pull the rug off the stair after you stick it in place. This will only make it harder to stick it back in the same spot.

That’s all there is to it.

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