Any ideas?
I am not keen on fitted carpets, both it us just a matter of taste, but I also worry about the amount of dust they hold with my asthma. Ordinary floors that is easily solved, but what about stairs? At present I have uncarpeted, painted stairs, and just now they don't look too good. Has anyone found a solution to this?
I don't know about stairs but I researched hypoallergenic flooring a while back and was impressed by linoleum (lino) - very neutral, manageable, insulating, sound suppressing etc.
From experience of having carpets fitted over previously hard floors, if you were going down that route, I would suggest be careful not to be anywhere near that dusty air it causes - it can be very bad, new fibres or old in the air-ways!
As for design ideas, Houzz dot com might be worth a look, type stair into their search - they've got examples of nice central runner type carpeting and bare types too.
Be careful of sanding for obvious reasons and also the risk of old paint containing lead.
If you were going to strip the wood back, you could try re-finishing the wood in something non-toxic such as milk paint (that would be adventurous and might need a few coats plus a hard-wearing protective coat of something, and would need a carpet down the centre I reckon or else it would get tatty looking fast - I don't know what varnish/finish they usually use on hard stairs: I'd worry about slipperiness myself). Milk paint only works on absolutely un-treated bare wood but once on won't chip or flake, it is what colonials used in America, the colours are very flat, and natural, I've used it on a bookcase I built and got a nice but slightly patchy finish with just two coats with the grain showing through, I used a tung/Danish oil-type top coat from chestnut products. If you do try milk paint (actually the only paint I know anything about, hence the ramble), dampen the wood with a fine mist of water from a spray bottle prior to application, this will help coverage but also raise the grain so you can spot if a little more sanding/scraping might be needed prior to painting.
Cheers, Ollie.
Hi........have you thought about cork tiles. We used them on a bathroom floor some years ago. Hubby found them easy to fit ,and cut to shape. Plus they are quiet when walked on and not cold to the touch. We treated ours with a varnish , but don't think you have to.
Jo.
We used to have them in our old kitchen, and it was great when you dropped things. They virtually bounced back in your hand. But I seem to remember they were not so durable. I want to put in new floors of the wooden sort (not there yet so we have time to think), but I struggle with the stairs. I want floors and stairs to be reasonably coordinated.
I had cork in my bathroom for many years and they were immaculate all that time. I had them sealed with yacht varnish which is probably why they lasted so long. Probably going to fit them in my new home bathroom as I hate the floors in there.
You could maybe get an engineered wood finish laminate and cut it to fit the stairs? Should be possible on open and closed treads as long as the profile is square at the front.
Get rid of the carpets - it was amazing when we did it - I could suddenly breathe so much better and the dust trapped in them was minging. When we had to move we ended up with carpets again and had to start from scratch. Vinyl in a bedroom is ok as long as its glued down and laminated floor finishes are great for asthmatics.
Hello Wheezycat: first of all for me health comes first, then the rest. When you are ill you can't do anything, but you can do stuff regardless of the colour of the floor. I suggest you put vinyl floor, I wouldn't put any carpet with asthma treatment. There is also parquet. I found this in the internet but there are lots of possibilities; just go to the markets and you'll find a nice floor for a good price homedepot.com/b/Flooring-Vi.... All the best.
Thank you for all your suggestions! At firat the cork suggestion didn't excite me as I have been there and done that, until I realised there may be better/other products out there since we had them last time, and I can paint them. Yacht varnish is probably a good idea.
I do like laminate/wooden floors, and provided my DH also like them that should be fine - provided we have some rugs. And rugs can be more easily cleaned than fitted carpets. Downstairs is more of a problem due to our floors needing to be able to breathe, or damp will build up. But it is not our priority. Bedroom comes first. But I need to tackle the stairs - no carpets. But they look rather rubbish at present, so action needs taking.
You have all given me ideas. Thank you. It will be slow progress, but progress all the same.
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Asthma and Occupational health queries 
