Here’s an interesting question – does a stairlift damage your stairs carpet? While stairlifts do screw directly into the stairs, the screws are very thin. You’re unlikely to even notice the holes when a stairlift is removed. Here’s a quick post to cover this topic in more detail!
Does A Stairlift Damage Your Stairs Carpet?
How does a stairlift affect your stairs carpet? Here’s some pictures showing a recently removed stairlift and the marks it has left. These are simply the weight of the stairlift legs, pushing into the carpet. The screw marks are very small, and even brush over with a wipe!
Here’s a video showing just how easily these marks are removed:
How Stairlifts Are Attached
When a stairlift goes in, the rail legs are screwed directly into the staircase treads. This means screws do go through your carpet. However, they are so thin, most carpets won’t notice when it is removed, and the carpet thread will cover any holes, unless the carpet is particularly threadbare.
Depending on how long a stairlift is left in, (and the weight load can affect this too), you’ll see more or less of an indent. But it is usually no more than the indent on your carpet left over when moving heavy furniture.
Other Factors Affecting Your Carpet
Of course the longer the stairlift is in for, the more of an indent you will likely see. If you get sunshine on your staircase carpet too, you might notice a difference in the colour of the carpet, where the stairlift legs have blocked the sun bleaching the carpet.
For heavy weight machines, which carry a heavier load, you will likely get more of an indent with your carpet than a standard weight user.
We sometimes get movement of the stairlift over time, although this is uncommon. A recent maintenance job showed the stairlift had slowly dropped, under the impact of use. This meant that the stairlift safety trigger was hitting the top stair, causing an issue. In this case, we lifted the rail up slightly so the stairlift would miss the staircase.
Over time, use of the stairlift can cause a slight impact in the stairs. But it is usually only the carpet which is affected, unless the wood is very soft on your stairs. Still, with a heavy weave carpet, there’s more room for the stairlift to drop over time.
Summary
If you’re looking to have a stairlift removed, you will likely be able to brush clean the appearance of the stairlift leg indentations. (see video above). In some cases, the carpet may have been flattened and it might leave a dent. This is similar to when you move furniture which has been in place for a long time. The carpet is the most affected and although the screws do go through the carpet into the wood, the holes are very small and easily covered with the carpet threads.
If your staircase gets the sun, you might also notice some discolouration over time of your carpet. The legs will block this from happening so when you remove the stairlift, this becomes apparent. Most staircases don’t get much sun, so this is seldom a problem. See also our post on stairlift removal to see the process of removal and what this looks like.
You can also watch one of our removals on our YouTube channel here.