Flooring options for staircase and hallways in a rental building

Hi, we have a 3-family building. The flooring of the staircase and hallways are in a pretty bad shape and we are looking for options. I have been recommended to put carpet throughout. Any advice. ideas etc… would be appreciated. Thank you

brooklyn72

in Flooring 10 years and 11 months ago

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epfloors87 | 10 years and 10 months ago

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I would suggest you to use pebbles stair floor or either you can have the wooden finishing over the stair floor area which will stay for longer period and easy to clean without any foul smell.

loydwillard | 10 years and 11 months ago

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Thanks for this topic, It is really great.

brokelin | 10 years and 11 months ago

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My coop put in flat, sort of heathery (multiple colors in the mix) commercial grade nylon carpeting on the stairs and hallways above the first floor (the first floor hallway had original tile still.) It worked great – was easy to spot clean when someone tracked something in, and was steam-cleaned by the professionals every year or two, for not much money at all, and it cleaned up great. I highly recommend the synthetic, flatter, commercial grade carpeting. It didn’t look bad, it was pretty. But it cleaned up much easier than the old stuff, which was thicker, not commercial grade, carpeting did. You could also do that rubber matting, with the coin pattern or other pattern for non-slip, but I’m like the commenter above, it is much easier to vacuum than to clean with a bucket and water. And carpeting does make for more quiet hallways.

resident2 | 10 years and 11 months ago

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It depends on who and what you have going up and down yours stairs. As well as the initial door mat situation. I have always put industrial carpeting in my Brownstone rentals with a good wet absorbing mat at the front door to wipe feet on. Vacuuming is always easier to me than carrying a bucket and changing the water two or three times to avoid that smell that most linoleum/tile hallways have….it is dirty bucket water! Once a year or so I have sears come in and steam clean to carpeting and it is much quieter etc. But that said, if I had tenants with lots of children and pets running in and out all day, that did not take the time to wipe their feet etc… then yes I would put rubber/ linoleum tile.

Goatcrapp | 10 years and 11 months ago

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No carpet in the public hallways if you have renters – it’s a lot of cleaning (which you’re responsible for) and will smell. If it’s just aesthetics, paint it and call it a day. The next price tier would include laying laminate flooring like pergo over the existing, and refinishing the stair treads (the rest can be painted). The next tier after that would be sanding and refinishing of everything. There are other answers in-between, price wise. For my rental – I’ve used filler to even out the steps (aesthetic issues only, not structural) and laid down a nice two-tone paint job on the treads and risers, with engineered wood in the hall and entry ways, and then complemented the work with low pile carpet trades on the stairs, and runners in the hallways in winter. These are at least removable, and easily replaced when worn unlike wall-to-wall. I’ve also gone the full restoration method and it’s a lot of work if you’re doing it yourself, but absolutely beautiful when done. If it’s in bad shape structurally as well – you have to spring to get it fixed.. not doing so will have you kicking yourself later when someone gets hurt.

mruby36 | 10 years and 11 months ago

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Carpet of course absorbs everything and will likely smell accordingly after a short while, not to mention all the little microscopic fellas that love living inside such carpeted comfort… YUKO! I also cant think of a tile that either wont get beat up soon and/or be slippery when wet. Some further detail on the condition of the stair treads and flooring would be helpful as well as how important are the ascetics. If the treads are structurally ok, there are some good heavy duty paints that could be applied and put rubber treads over the surface because obviously even good paint will show stress sooner rather than later. This is a site that may have some traffic protection alternatives. http://www.allstairtreads.com/ If you have to replace the treads, southern yellow pine is a reasonably priced alternative. Last, ventilation during spring, summer and fall really helps. If there is a way to bring air in on the ground level and let it out, preferably with any small fan, up at the top level, the chimney effect of the air flow will draw out accumulated odors and help keep down moisture levels. If the stairwell goes all the way up to the roof level, consider putting in a vent or skylight of some sort if there is no operable skylight already there. Hope that helps! Matt R www.nyc-hs.com

xchx | 10 years and 11 months ago

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Mine is tiled, and randomly it really smells bad, like wet dog, when you clean it. Other than that it’s easy to clean. If anyone knows how to fix that let me know.