We are first time home buyers and plan to do several renovations and upgrades ourselves.

The second floor and stairs has the original carpet from when the home was built. We would like to replace all carpeted areas with laminate; However, we are not sure how to do the stairs. We are concerned the standard nose may not be the safest option with kids and pets. Are there any other alternatives that won't break the bank?

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

Forget about laminite on the stairs, not going to happen.
Use real wood instead.
May want to think twice about installing a hard flooring on the second floor. Gets really loud with the kids running around up there.
If there's anyway possible concider installing engineered flooring not laminite.
It's just as easy to install but will not look like plastic, not be as loud, and will increase the value of the home, unlike laminite.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joecaption,

Thanks! We will look into that.

Think about it, when you were looking for a home how many ads did you see stating "laminite floors though out", as apposed to the ads that bragged about "hardwood floor through out".
The instant I walk into a home with laminite you can tell it's fake.

laminate is loud flooring to start with. for the same price, you can get engineered floors with real wood on top, and they are less noisy with hard heels, or cats skittering across them.

engineered floors will generally have at least one layer of aluminum oxide on top of the surface, which wears much more like iron that plain polyurethane or acrylic.

better quality floors may be able to be refinished once, provided you keep the documentation and a few scraps so the pros can determine whether it's worth their risk. you should always have at least one box of spare flooring after it's all done to make any repairs on as necessary.

cold hard fact: companies, floor products, styles come and go, and many only have a production/sale life of 2-3 years. that means no way you can fix it or match it in the future. always buy extra and save it.