Stair Carpet Installation in Kanata & Ottawa West
Stairs are the hardest carpet job in a house and the one that shows every shortcut. Each tread has to be cut, tensioned and finished individually, and a nosing that is not wrapped tight goes loose and lumpy within a season. Kanata Carpet Pros installs both waterfall and wrapped flights across Kanata and Ottawa West using stair-grade carpet over a firm 10-lb pad, with every nosing hand-wrapped and every edge finished so there is nothing to catch a toe on.
- Waterfall and wrapped finishes
- Stair-grade carpet that resists crushing
- Firm 10-lb high-traffic underpad
- Every nosing wrapped by hand
- Matching runners available
- Licensed, insured and WSIB-covered
Waterfall and wrapped: how each one is built
There are two ways to carpet a staircase and they are genuinely different pieces of work, not two names for the same thing. Which one suits your flight depends on how the stairs are seen and how hard they are used.
Waterfall
The carpet is brought over the front nose of a step and allowed to fall straight down to the tread below, so the riser behind is covered by a single hanging drop rather than a fitted panel. It uses less material and far less labour, and it goes in quickly. On a closed flight — a basement staircase, a back stair in a townhome — nobody sees the difference and the money is better spent elsewhere.
Wrapped, also called Hollywood
Each tread is upholstered individually: the carpet is pulled around the bullnose, tensioned, and fastened underneath so the profile of the step reads through the carpet. It takes roughly twice the labour and a little more material. In return the stairs look built rather than covered, the nosing wears far longer because the carpet is held tight against it, and the grip underfoot is noticeably better.
Which one for your flight
If the staircase is open to the front hall and is the first thing anyone sees, wrap it. If it is a straight closed run to a basement, waterfall is the sensible spend. We will walk the stairs, show you both on samples, and put a written price against each so the decision is yours rather than ours.
Carpet built for Kanata stair traffic
A staircase concentrates the traffic of a whole floor into fourteen small surfaces, and it does it in the same eight inches of every tread. Bedroom carpet on a main flight looks tired within two years.
Dense twist and tight loop, not plush
We steer Bridlewood, Morgan's Grant and Barrhaven families toward dense twist and tight-loop constructions rated for stairs. They resist the crushing that flattens a soft saxony's middle band, and they hold their appearance where the foot actually lands rather than at the edges nobody walks on.
Pattern and colour hide what plain does not
A subtle heather or a fine pattern disguises both the wear band and the winter grit that comes upstairs on socks. A flat solid — especially a pale one — records every one of them. It is the cheapest durability decision on the whole job.
A firm pad, not a thick one
Stairs want a firm 10-lb pad. A thick soft pad feels luxurious on a landing and is actively wrong on a tread: it lets the carpet move under load, which loosens the wrap at the nosing and eventually rounds the step off. Firm underneath, tight on top.
What a Kanata staircase costs to carpet
Stair pricing follows tread count, finish, and whether the carpet carries on across the upstairs hall. These are the all-in bands we quote most often around Kanata.
| Project | Typical scope | Installed price range |
|---|---|---|
| Standard staircase, waterfall | 13–14 treads | $400 – $550 |
| Standard staircase, wrapped | 13–14 treads | $550 – $700 |
| Stairs plus upstairs hall | ~250 sq ft | $1,100 – $1,900 |
| Runner on existing wood stairs | per flight | $350 – $600 |
Bands include stair-grade carpet, 10-lb high-traffic underpad, removal of the old stair carpet, and labour. A landing, a winder, or a curved bottom step is measured and priced with the flight.
Already have carpeted stairs that have gone loose or worn thin at the nosings? Those can often be repaired rather than replaced — ask when you call. Curved bottom steps and winders, common in the Manotick estate builds, are measured on site with the flight.
Stair carpet questions
How much does stair carpet installation cost in Kanata?
A standard thirteen to fourteen tread staircase runs $400 to $700 installed, with stair-grade carpet, high-traffic underpad and labour included. Wrapped stairs sit at the top of that band because every tread and riser is upholstered by hand. The price is written and fixed before we start — there is no per-tread surprise on the day.
What's the difference between waterfall and wrapped stairs?
A waterfall install drapes the carpet straight over the front nose of each step so it falls to the tread below — faster, less material, easier on the budget. Wrapped, sometimes called Hollywood, upholsters each tread and riser tightly around the nosing. It looks custom, wears longer and grips better underfoot, and it is what most Kanata two-storey singles choose for the main flight.
Is carpet safer than hardwood on stairs?
It grips better and it cushions a fall, which is why families here often carpet the stairs even when the hallway is hardwood. The steep flights in Kanata two-storey singles are exactly where that matters. Carpet also quietens the stairs considerably, which is its own argument in a house with teenagers.
Can you match stair carpet to my upstairs hallway?
Yes. We can run the same carpet up the flight and straight across the upstairs hall for one continuous look, or install a contrasting runner down the centre of the treads if you want the stairs to read as a feature. We bring samples so you can see both in your own light before you commit.
Ready to re-do the stairs?
Count your treads, send us a photo from the bottom of the flight, and we'll price waterfall and wrapped side by side.