Carpeting for stairwells

Stairwells are a very important place in any multi-family building. They are places where lots of people move around every day. Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes in a hurry and sometimes with extreme caution. Many stairwells in multi-family buildings were built decades ago and today housing associations are faced with the need to renovate them. In such areas, the floors are usually covered with terrazzo or ceramic tiles, and replacing, repairing or removing them is often very costly, problematic and time-consuming, as a stairwell in an occupied building cannot be taken out of service for an extended period of time.

The quickest and least invasive solution to refurbishing a stairwell floor is to install PVC flooring.

What should characterise a staircase floor?

In the first instance, when choosing a floor covering, attention should be paid to its technical parameters. As these are often places with heavy traffic, it is important that the floor is designed for such use. Therefore, a very important parameter is its use class, which according to the EN-ISO 10874 standard should be marked as 33. Another important point on the list is fire resistance, which should be classified as Bfl-s1. For most flexible carpets, slip resistance is classified as R9, but for areas such as stairwells, slip resistance should be marked as a minimum of R10.

Choosing a floor covering

The range of manufacturers of object carpets is very wide and varied. On the market, we can choose between heterogeneous and homogeneous PVC roll coverings, as well as LVT vinyl panels and tiles. Each of these carpets has its own advantages and will certainly work well as a floor covering in such an area. In addition, you can make the stairs easier to use by choosing to use contrasting colours, or by installing stair nosings with a distinct structure or sticking sandpaper-textured anti-slip tapes.

Preparing the substrate

Before installation, old, decayed terrazzo and ceramic tile substrates must first be properly prepared.  Often old floors, especially in these older buildings, are crooked and have many cracks, cavities, holes and other serious damage.

Before repairing the subfloor, first apply a suitable primer for non-absorbent substrates (Priming is one of the most important steps in preparing the subfloor before installing a floor covering, as we wrote about here). The next step is to fill the defects, apply the primer, pour the self-levelling compound and finally sand the floor. Only after the subfloor has been prepared in this way can the carpet be installed.