Stairs, treads and spindles.

What is stair nosing, and do you need it for vinyl plank or laminate?

The nosing is the horizontal protruding edge of a stair tread.[1] On a floating floor you need a purpose-made stair nosing profile, because the plank cannot simply be run over the edge: it has to be mechanically held at the tread edge while the field of the floor stays free to move.

The guidelines describe the overlap reducer or stair nosing as the moulding used to provide a smooth transition between floors of different heights or different types, and note it is typically used in floating floor installations and must be attached to the subfloor in order to maintain adequate expansion space.[1] That last clause is the whole reason a proper profile is not optional: fasten it through the floor instead and you have pinned the floating floor. More on the vinyl plank and laminate pages.

There is also a number behind it. Ontario's Building Code puts the depth of a rectangular tread at not less than its run and not more than its run plus 25 mm, so the overhang has a ceiling.[2] Swapping to a chunkier nosing profile than the stair was built with is not just a look; it moves that dimension.

How do you install hardwood on stairs after carpet?

The carpet, underpad, tack strip and staples come off, and then you find out what the treads actually are. In most older houses they are construction-grade and not meant to be seen, so the job is fitting new treads and risers, or cladding the existing ones, rather than sanding what is there. The guidelines describe solid stair treads as used for the steps themselves or, more commonly, to cover the existing sub-treads.[1]

Then the nosing detail at the front edge of each tread, the returns on any open side, and the transition where the stairs meet the floor above and below. It is finish carpentry more than flooring, which is why it is priced and scheduled separately from the flat work.

The part that catches people out is the riser heights. New treads add thickness, and so does the new floor at the top and bottom of the flight. Ontario's Building Code requires risers to be of uniform height within a flight, with a maximum tolerance of 5 mm between adjacent treads and 10 mm between the tallest and shortest riser in the flight.[2] Cladding every tread keeps the middle of the stair equal, but the first and last risers change by whatever goes down on the floors they meet. That is why the stair is measured together with the floor rather than after it, and it is the thing a cheap stair quote skips.

Is carpet or hardwood safer on stairs, and what about a runner?

Carpet gives more grip underfoot and softens a fall, so on pure safety it has the edge, particularly for small children and older people. A hardwood stair with a properly fitted runner is the usual compromise and gets most of the grip back while keeping the look. The guidelines describe a false-tread system for exactly this: solid treads at the exposed ends with a carpet runner between.[1]

If you go with bare hardwood stairs, the things that matter for safety are a consistent nosing profile, a finish that is not glass-slick, and a handrail you can actually hold. A runner that is not fastened down properly is worse than no runner at all. The carpet page has what the residential standard requires for carpet on stairs.

What the Code requires, since safety is the question. Ontario Regulation 332/12 sets private stair rise between 125 mm and 200 mm with a run between 255 mm and 355 mm, the rise measured nosing to nosing.[2] Handrails sit 865 mm to 1 070 mm high and must be graspable along their whole length.[2] A hand that cannot close around a rail is not a handrail, whatever it looks like.

Where we stop: quoting the Code is not the same as clearing a job. If your project changes a stair or a guard rather than resurfacing one, that is a question for your municipal building department. In Hamilton, replacing interior railings or guards is on the City's own list of permit jobs; see the Hamilton page, and the service area pages for the other towns.

Iron balusters vs wood: which, and are iron spindles going out of style?

Iron balusters are thinner than wood for the same strength, so a railing in iron blocks less light and less view, which is why they took over open staircases. Wood suits a traditional or fully painted stair. On current Ontario houses iron is still the more common request rather than a fading trend.

Max's take: the pattern is what dates a railing, not the material. A simple square or plain round iron baluster has not gone out of style; the heavily twisted and scrolled patterns from fifteen years ago have. Swapping wood for iron on an existing stair is a real job rather than a cosmetic one, because each baluster is set into the tread and the handrail.

Spacing is not a style choice. Ontario's Building Code requires that openings through a guard "prevent the passage of a spherical object having a diameter of 100 mm", and that guards inside a dwelling unit be at least 900 mm high.[2] That 100 mm sphere is what sets how many balusters a run needs, and it is the reason a wide-spaced modern look often costs more spindles rather than fewer. The Code also requires that nothing between 140 mm and 900 mm above the walking surface facilitates climbing,[2] which is what rules out the horizontal ladder-style rails people see in magazines.