Marilynn,

The building we had the rods in was a REconstructed historic building.
However, even in
our original homes, we had mats or such there to "protect" the orginal wood
or stairs, etc.  IMHO, I would rather spend money on rods and drill a few
holes, for example, than have to replace the original stairs because of wear
and tear because we did not have a quality protective layer (carpets or
mats) in place.

The woven, pioneer or old looking runners up the stairs look very
impressive, and the rods
hold/held down the carpets well.  However, when it comes to clean them--that
is a different story.  You have to remove the rods (or loosen them) to
remove the carpets to clean. But in the
end the time will save you lots of expense in repairs.

I was also suggesting a quality professional runner/mat on the well traveled
pathways throughout
the historic homes.  They may not be "period" but I'm sure the public
understands they are
their to protect the home, and you can get a black or a dark color that
blends with the
style of the home.  Using woven runners wear and tear much, and lots of
cleaning.....when
you get thousands of peopel walking over them.  So you have to look at that.
Maybe,
putting down a modern-type runner up the stairs (even with rods) would look
nice, too, and
last longer and be safer for people going up and down the stairs.  You need
to think of the
visitors (if they trip on a loose end to a woven rung, etc.)

Some of the professional mats are easily cleaned, takes lots of abuse but
looks nice and
may work for you if you didn't want to go with woven rugs.  We did have some
mats down
in our Visitor's Center, and the professional cleaners would come and
replace them weekly
or whenever they needed cleaning, replacement.  You may want to talk to such
a business
and they may have another way to place and hold such mats/rugs going up/down
stairs...besides
rods.

Best,

John Martinson
http://www.geocities.com/jpmart1


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marilynn Havelka" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 6:28 PM
Subject: Re: carpeting stairs


> John did you have to attach the rods to the stair - I am interested in the
subject but do not want to attach anything to original building materials.
>
> John Martinson wrote:
>
> > We used woven/braided cotton carpet up the stairs, held in place with
brass
> > rods.
> > Looked nice and the rods held the carpets in place.
> >
> > John
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "`Iolani Palace Curator's Office" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 4:14 PM
> > Subject: carpeting stairs
> >
> > > Does anyone have experience with carpeting stairs in a historic house
> > > museum? We are looking for something relatively inconspicuous that
will
> > > withstand high traffic but is not too bulky.
> > >
> > > The stairs are koa (rainforest hardwood) and were restored at great
> > > expense a number of years ago. If at all possible, we would like to
secure
> > > the carpet while minimizing permanent damage to the stairs. Any
> > > suggestions?
> > >
> > > Aimee Miura
> > > Administrative Assistant
> > > --
> > > Reply to:
> > >
> > > Curator's Office <[log in to unmask]>
> > > -------------------------------
> > > The Friends of `Iolani Palace
> > > Post Office Box 2259
> > > Honolulu, Hawai`i  96804
> > > -------------------------------
> > > http://www.iolanipalace.org
> > >
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