I’m Mario Vilchis, owner of Vilchis Hardwood Floors. When a Raleigh homeowner puts hardwood through the main floor, the stairs are usually the next question. They want the steps to match the floors instead of clashing with worn carpet. The follow-up question is always about price, and stairs surprise people, because they cost more per step than they expect.
So here’s a straight answer. Most hardwood stair installs in Raleigh run between $100 and $200 per step for standard work, and more for open-sided staircases or custom details. A typical straight staircase of 13 to 15 steps lands somewhere in the $1,500 to $4,000 range depending on the wood, the layout, and how much demo and prep is involved. Below I’ll walk through why the number moves around so you can size up your own staircase.
Why stairs cost more than floors
People see a per-step price next to a per-square-foot floor price and assume someone is padding the bill. They’re not. Stairs are slow, detailed work, and almost none of it is the fast machine work that makes open floors efficient.
Each step is two parts. The tread is the horizontal piece you step on, and the riser is the vertical face between treads. Both get cut, fit, and fastened individually. There’s no rolling a sander across a whole room here. Treads often need a bullnose, the rounded front edge that overhangs the riser, and that edge has to be consistent down the whole flight. Add the angles where treads meet skirt boards and walls, and you’ve got a job that’s measured and cut piece by piece. That’s where the cost lives. If you want a sense of how stairs compare to a full floor project, our 2026 hardwood installation cost guide lays out the floor side so you can see the two next to each other.
What moves the price up or down
A few things decide where your staircase lands in that range.
The biggest one is whether the staircase is closed or open. A closed staircase has walls on both sides, so the treads tuck in and the ends don’t show. That’s the simpler, cheaper build. An open staircase, where one or both sides are exposed to a room, costs more because the exposed tread ends need finished returns and the work is on display, so it has to be clean.
Wood species matters too. Red and white oak are the common choice in Raleigh homes and the most affordable. Maple, walnut, and other species cost more for the material and sometimes more for the labor if they’re harder to work.
Then there’s what’s already there. Pulling up old carpet, staples, and tack strip takes time. If the existing treads underneath are rough construction-grade lumber, which is common, we’re capping them with finished hardwood, and that prep adds to the total. Painted risers versus stained risers, the number of landings, and any winder steps that fan around a turn all push the number up because each one is extra hand work.
Matching stairs to your existing floors
Most of the Raleigh stair jobs we do are about matching. Someone already has hardwood on the main level and wants the stairs to look like they belong, not like an afterthought. We match species, stain color, and sheen as closely as the materials allow so the transition from floor to stairs reads as one continuous space.
If your floors have a few years on them, the stain may have shifted slightly with sun and age, and brand-new wood won’t match a worn floor straight out of the box. We account for that when we pick stain. Keeping the whole thing looking consistent over time also comes down to care, and our guide on a seasonal hardwood care routine covers how to keep floors and stairs aging at the same pace.
A note on safety and code
Stairs aren’t just a finish project. They’re the part of your home most likely to cause an injury if they’re built wrong, so the dimensions matter. Treads need enough depth to land your whole foot, risers need to be a consistent height, and a flight that varies even a little from step to step throws off your rhythm and becomes a trip hazard. This matters even more in homes with young kids or older family members. The Consumer Product Safety Commission notes that falls are the leading cause of injury for adults 65 and older, and you can read their older adult home safety guidance for more on stairs, handrails, and lighting. When we cap or rebuild stairs, we keep tread and riser dimensions consistent so the finished staircase is safe to use, not just nice to look at.
When wood isn’t the right call
Wood stairs are beautiful, but they’re not automatic. If your household has big dogs that take the stairs at a run, or you’re worried about slipping, there are cases where a different material or a runner over wood makes more sense. We install plenty of other surfaces too, and if you’re weighing options our luxury vinyl plank installation page and our broader hardwood flooring services lay out where each material fits best. We’ll give you the honest trade-offs at the estimate rather than pushing the most expensive option.
Getting a real number
The per-step ranges above are a starting point, not a quote. The only way to know what your staircase costs is to look at it: count the steps, check whether it’s open or closed, see what’s under the carpet, and talk through species and stain. We give written, fixed-price quotes after a free in-home measurement, so you know the number before we start.
We serve Raleigh and the surrounding Triangle, including North Hills, Five Points, Oakwood, and Brier Creek, out of our Durham shop. If you want your stairs to match your floors, reach out for hardwood floor installation in Raleigh and we’ll come take a look.
Ready for a number on your own staircase? Contact us or call (919) 794-1116 to set up a free measurement.
Mario Vilchis, Owner and CEO, Vilchis Hardwood Floors. 237 Obie Dr, Durham, NC 27713.
