Stair carpet

Staircase with stair carpet.

A stair carpet is a carpet that runs up a stairway.

Since fitted carpet became the norm in the late 1950s, the word distinguishes less than it once did. A stair carpet was characterized by not fitting the full width of the stair but leaving the underlying wood of the tread and risers open to view; this was sometimes simply to save on carpet and sometimes to expose features while preventing wear to the underlying surface. Typically, a stair carpet will be more hard-wearing since it gets more punishing footfall than, for example, a carpet in a bedroom.

A stair carpet may be fixed to the stairs by means of carpet tacks or adhesive underfloor, or clamped in place using stair rods. It is imperative that it is fixed affirmatively to avoid accidental slips.