Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?


Mark S.

The message
from Mark S. contains these words:

Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

To save money.

You don't naturally walk close to the edge of stairs even when you have
a handrail to use rather than a wall keeping your centre of gravity well
away from the edge.

--
Roger

Mark S. wrote:

Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

You don't tend to in these days of fitted carpets.

It used to be the case if you bought a stair carpet of "stair runner",
they came in certain fixed widths. So you bought the widest you could
fit without needing to trip the edges, leaving the gap.

--
Cheers,

John.

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I thought it was typical to have a 'double fold' of carpet at the bottom of the stair, allowing the owner to loosen the stair rods (which hold the carpet in place), and slide the entire strip upward, when the carpet became worn at the step edges (nosings). This would be a lot more difficult with 'wall to wall' carpetting. Even more economical (as long as you still like the colour).



--
KEVIN BRADY, Oxford
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"Roger" wrote in message k...
The message
from Mark S. contains these words:

Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

To save money.

You don't naturally walk close to the edge of stairs even when you have
a handrail to use rather than a wall keeping your centre of gravity well
away from the edge.

--
Roger

In article , "Mark S."
says...
Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

So there was room to attach the carpet rods?

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Mark S."
says...
Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

In those days noone had fitted carpets, so there would be nothing
inconsistent with having a non-fitted stair carpet. I note in fact that the
trend nowadays is back to wooden floors and rugs! My mother has just asked
me about new carpet for the stairs/landing/hallway and she wants a runner
type carpet for the stairs, 27" wide, with the treads and risers that are
exposed at the edges painted white.

I haven't found many outlets that actually do stair carpets, but if they do
they tend to be very cheap jumbo cord type stuff or very expensive exclusive
catalogue items. A carpet shop chappie told me I could have a stair carpet
made from any suitable carpet, they cut it along the width, then run it
through a hemming machine, at an extra cost of £2/metre. The problem there
is that even a 5metre roll won't get you to the top of an average flight of
stairs, especially if there is a a fold of extra carpet at the bottom in
reserve so wear can be equalised. Any join in the stair carpet made this way
is easily disguised by tucking it into the gripper strips at the bottom of a
riser, but like I said, it makes evening up wear very problematical compared
to a full-length carpet runner held in position by carpet-rods.

Andy.

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:07:56 GMT, Roger
wrote:

The message
from Mark S. contains these words:

Just a quick question, why did/do people have a gap at the edges of
stair carpet?

To save money.

But also because it looks better. I think a polished wooden staircase
with a carpet runner and nice stair rods looks far nicer than fitted
carpet.

MM