We had wood stairs in our previous house & many people, and our dog, slipped on them. The noise wasn't an issue due to the location of the stairs. We intentionally installed carpet on the stairs in our new house. I like it much better.

This is our 3rd house with hardwood stairs and I wouldn't want it any other way. We have teen boys and they know not to stomp up and down stairs!

You might try to search the forum ... I remember a couple of members here who have done this update and posted before/after photos a few years ago.

Hubby installed the wood stairs in our home, so I can't help with that. After having carpeted stairs in our other homes, I'd never have carpet again. Wood is so much easier to keep clean. Carpet hides dust, but in my opinion, that's not a good thing.
Yes, they can be louder when stomped up or down on, but still worth it. As for slipping, both carpet and wood can be slippery depending on the shoes, or lack of, being worn. That's what the hand rail is for and why I taught our children/grandchildren, to hold it when going up or down.

We just had this done. I absolutely hated the carpeted stairs and couldn’t wait to have solid wood treads and risers. We used retreads purchased through HomeDepot, and hired a local contractor to install them. They still need touch-up painting, but I’ll happily post a photo when they are finished. Total cost for all was $1,000 - well worth it in every aspect!

My carpeted stairs were one thing in this house I hated when we bought it. It was a good grade carpet but it was cream colored and impossible to keep looking clean. It became as worn from vacuuming and cleaning as it did from use.

Our main floor was hardwood but the upstairs rooms had that same carpet. Since it was new when we bought and other things were priorities - time and money-wise - I lived with it for 12 years.

When we remodeled the kitchen in 2014 we had the same flooring person who refinished the downstairs install wood upstairs & on the stairway. Best thing we've ever done to this home.

My dogs were familiar with bare wood stairs because we have them in our lake place. They trod a bit more gingerly the first week or so, but adjusted quickly.

Obviously, there's more sound than with carpet. But even when we have guests with kids who stay with us I don't find it bad.

The one thing I'd caution about is if you wear just socks in the house, it can be slippery. We wear slippers in winter & sandals designated for indoor wear only in summertime.

Cost-wise, like anything else you do in your home, I would want to hire someone who is reputable and does quality work. You don't have to break the bank, but consider you're talking about a permanent fixture of your home.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's just two adults so I'm not worried about noise. We have wood stairs at our weekend lake place and I don't really notice a noise problem there when guests are going up and down. We are socks in the house people so would be cautious about that. DH is a bit of a klutz and has been known to slip even on the carpeted stairs. Eventually I would like to put a patterned runner on the stairs that wouldn't show dirt and wear but I would wait on that for while due to the cost of the stairs alone.

Since we won't be painting the stairs it's more important to me to have higher grade wood that looks good stained and that is more expensive than the average product at HD.

I have had carpeted stairs in the past that held up well for 20 years! I think a lot had to do with the color which didn't show dirt or wear like my current beige carpet and I think it was better quality carpet. I suppose I should see what the cost of carpet would be just to compare. I've been deciding on carpet for some other rooms so I could have them break out the cost of stairs from the rest.

I appreciate you posting this thread. We installed wood floors on our first level, but have a really nice Friese carpet on our stairs and through out the upper level. The staircase has just a minimal amount of padding, because stairs with thick padding is what I feel makes carpeted stairs more dangerous. It's just my husband and I so I don't mind the carpet, but I'd love to have dark wood risers installed eventually.. I've always loved the look of a white staircase with dark wood risers.

We have had wooden stairs for 30 years....I have never once regretted it. We bought a second home ( condo) near our grandchildren. I come here alone quite often since my DH is not yet retired. It has an open stairway to the basement. There was filthy carpet on them. Late one night I removed the carpet, padding, and tack strips....until I could get the stairs painted. It is SO much better,

Yes, I did it myself - bought risers and treads from Lowes, had them cut to the correct width and the risers ripped to the correct height, and applied them over the existing plywood stair base.

BEFORE (PO)

AFTER

Well I was thinking maybe I'll just do carpet if it's significantly less expensive. But the last posts are making me think I should bite the bullet and get wood. Do it yourself households are so fortunate.

I like this thread, because we are thinking about this in the future for our stairs, which go to the basement. It is a sea of carpet down there now, and the stairs are also carpeted. Kids like that. I don't. Nobody vacuums those stairs. It is a PIA.
Our first floor is mostly all hardwood or tile, with the secondary bedrooms still having carpet. I like the maintenance of hardwood better.

DH and I have each slipped on both carpeted stairs and bare wood stairs. Neither is fun, but the carpet cushions the fall somewhat. I've had two daughters literally go heals over head on the stairs, one was age 2 at the time. My 4 year old fell at a friend's house just a few weeks ago in just the same way. I was very thankful for the carpet and padding to cushion her accident. Falls are one reason a "landing" is one thing that's important to DH to have in a stairwell. It gives people a place to land if they fall, rather than falling from the top all the way to the bottom. Right now our stairs are bare, and tmnca has given me an idea for how to paint them for the time being. Ultimately, we plan to carpet them, though.

Love wood stairs, I would never carpet my stairs. I think the slipping thing is maybe the depth of the step My sister has carpet on her stairs and my DH has slipped on it twice now, he says the step isnt deep enough for his foot.

We had carpeted stairs when we moved in here. Luckily, when we removed the carpet we found oak floors underneath, which we had refinished. We had one daughter who constantly was thumping up the stairs, mostly late at night while we were in bed. We added a runner to the stairs, which solved that problem. I keep thinking about taking it out, but now we have grown accustomed to it.