The carpet on stairs gets more wear than almost anywhere else in the house. For one thing, it is bent over each riser, and for another, that edge that is over the riser is continuously pounded as people go up and down the stairs. There is a huge amount of wear and tear on a very small area, more than for the carpet in any other part of the house, and that wear and tear also applies to the underlay underneath.
So, you need an underlay that provides as much cushioning as possible, and one that can cope with the tremendous wear.
In terms of durability the very best underlay for a staircase is a crumb rubber. This is made from recycled car tyres (so it is also environmentally friendly) and has 100% ‘retention of work of compression’, which means it always springs back to shape.
Our two crumb rubber underlays, Duralay System 10 and Duralay Treadmore, are both excellent. System 10 is slightly thicker and will be slightly more comfortable underfoot.
Yes, but only go for the best and densest underlays to make sure they are as durable as possible; for instance, if you want a sponge rubber go for Tredaire Colours Red or Tredaire Elite, while if you want a PU Foam go for Tredaire Dreamwalk, Softwalk, Cosywalk or Contract 9.
The first thing is to fit the carpet gripper. Fit a piece on the tread of each stair so that the angled edge is furthest away from you and fit a piece on the riser of the next stair so that the angled edge faces down. The gap between them should be around double the thickness of the carpet. If you are not sure then try it on one stair.
Cut the underlay off into strips that are the same width as the stair. Starting on the top stair fit and staple the underlay up tight to the carpet gripper, then bend the underlay over the nose of the stair and down to the next gripper. Staple it securely along all its edges and on the riser just under the nose of the stair, then trim it off. Repeat for all the stairs.