Amtico (or similar) on staircase?

[clockworks]

Hallway refurbishment due to start in a couple of weeks, still not decided on flooring and stairs. It's a complete makeover of the inner hallway, stairs and top landing of a 1960's bungalow with 1990's dormer conversion - new ceiling, flooring, skirting, etc.

We were going to have the floor tiled, stairs and landing carpeted, but the cat will destroy carpet. Existing carpet completely shredded in 3 years.
Considered an oak staircase, but that's at least £5k.
Cladding in oak will be around £2k.
Just painting or staining isn't an option, as the treads and risers are some kind of MDF.

While looking at pics of flooring, I saw some with LVP on the stairs, which looked quite smart.
I watched a few videos, and it looks relatively straightforward for anyone who's good at tiling (getting the cuts right) and has some carpentry skills ( overboarding either the treads or risers to accommodate the nosings).

Seems like the most important thing is choosing the right nosings?
Bullnose (overlay the treads), or square edge (pack out the risers)?

Anyone here got any experience with doing this? How has it held up in use?

[kv85]

Not too sure, but wont Amtico or any LVT make the stairs a bit slippery?

[clockworks]

Mory slippery than carpet, but less slippery than real wood or glass I would think?

[Sporky]

We have Polyflor on the stairs, with aluminium nosings.

No slipperiness issues.

[clockworks]

Sporky said:

We have Polyflor on the stairs, with aluminium nosings.

No slipperiness issues.

Are the aluminium nosings holding up to wear and tear? Presumably the type that fits under the vinyl on the treads, and over the vinyl on the risers?


I went into the local Amtico/Karndean stockist today, had a chat with the owner. They have done quite a few staircases with LVP, no problems.
Had a look at the options, and the "cheaper" Karndean range looks fine for the job, and comes out around £32 a sq mt.
They only supply solid brass nosings, price is a bit steep - £55 each for satin nickel finish.
Seems a bit off that the nosings will cost more than the vinyl planks for the whole job (hallway, stairs, and landing).

They recommend fixing ply to the whole staircase, apparently that's the only substrate that the vinyl planks will stick to in high traffic areas. The treads will need 4mm ply though allow the nosings to sit flush, and the risers will need packing out to lose the existing bullnose.

Since carpet isn't a realistic option, I think LVP will be the best bet - as long as my builder can do it in less than a week.

[Sporky]

clockworks said:

Are the aluminium nosings holding up to wear and tear? Presumably the type that fits under the vinyl on the treads, and over the vinyl on the risers?

Yes and yes. They have the odd scratch from the dogs, bug as they were a satin finish to begin with it doesn't really show.

[clockworks]

Sporky said:

Yes and yes. They have the odd scratch from the dogs, bug as they were a satin finish to begin with it doesn't really show.

That's good to know, thanks.
It'll save nearly £500 if I use ally nosings.

[gangzoom]

clockworks said:

Considered an oak staircase, but that's at least £5k.

We went with this, it's something your probably use every day you live in the house, you can get them treated/finished/painted how ever you want. When I first saw ours finished it transformed the feel of the hallway in our bungalow, it's money well spent IMHO.