Storage journal / 15 October 2026
Stair Carpet and the Hall Floor Before Under-Stairs Storage
What to decide about the stair carpet, the hall floor and the floor inside the void before bespoke under-stairs storage is made for an Isle of Man hall.
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Decide the floor the storage will stand on, and where the stair carpet stops, before the fronts are made. A door drawn to today's carpet will sit wrong if that carpet comes up, and a carpet laid after the fronts can stop a door from closing. This is a planning note for Isle of Man halls. It does not quote a price, and it does not ask you to lift a fitted carpet.
The cupboard sits on a floor and against a staircase. Those two surfaces belong in the brief, with the stringer and the skirting. How the new front meets the stair is covered in the fronts guide. This page is only the floor under the storage, and the carpet on the flight.
What is the floor the storage will stand on?
The hall floor and the floor inside the void are often different. Carpet in the hall, bare boards or concrete under the stair. A door made to sweep a carpet will drag, or leave a gap, if the inside of the void is a lower bare floor. Photograph both, and say if there is a step between them.
If an old cupboard is still there, the floor you can see with the door open is the one to record. Leave the cupboard standing. The replacement guide is for reading that old front. Here, the question is only what the floor is made of, and whether the two floors meet at the same height.
A mat that lives in front of the stair is part of the floor for as long as it stays. If the mat is permanent, the door has to clear it. If it is moved every day, say so, and do not have the door made to a mat that will not be there.
Where should the stair carpet stop?
Look at the bottom of the flight. The carpet may end on the last tread, stop along the stringer, or run on and become the hall carpet. A new front that tucks under the stringer has to miss whichever of those you have.
A thick carpet pinched under a door that was scribed tight to the stringer will stop the door. A thinner carpet, fitted later in the same place, will leave a gap the old one had filled. Say what is there now, and whether you mean to keep it.
You do not need to pull the carpet up for a first brief. A photo of the bottom three steps, the stringer, and the floor they meet is enough to see where the carpet stops. If a gripper rod or a metal nosing shows at the edge, include it in the same photo.
What if the hall floor is going to change?
If a new floor, a tile, or a different carpet is about to go down, say so before the plinth and the doors are made. The height of that finish changes how a door meets the floor and how a drawer clears it.
Keeping the floor is a decision as well. Write it down. "We might change it later" is not a decision yet. The fronts should wait until it is one, or be drawn with the change named on the brief.
A floor fitted after the storage is the awkward order. The new material then has to be cut around a plinth that is already fixed. That can be the right sequence, if you want the storage down first. If you want the floor to run under the cupboard, the floor goes down first. Say which of those you are planning.
What about a nosing, a threshold, or a dip in the void?
Some stairs have a timber nosing at the bottom that sticks out past the stringer. A door that swings across that nosing will hit it. The newel and the bottom step are drawn in the fronts guide. Note the nosing on this page only when it lands on the floor the door crosses.
Inside the void, a bare patch, a dip, or a floor that falls towards the back wall belongs in the photos. A plinth made for a flat floor will rock on a dip. You do not have to level it before anyone visits. You do have to show it.
A threshold strip between hall carpet and a hard floor inside the cupboard is a ridge. A door that sweeps across it will catch. Photograph the strip from the side, so the height is visible, and say whether it is staying.
What should I send before the fronts are drawn?
Send the photos, then a short note. What the hall floor is. What the floor inside the void is. Where the stair carpet stops. Whether those finishes are staying. Any step between the two floors. Anything the door would cross: a nosing, a threshold strip, a mat.
The measuring guide is still the way to record the opening itself: widths, heights, and the slope of the soffit. This note does not replace that. A floor decision and a measured opening are two parts of the same brief.
Manufacture waits on a verified measure of the opening, the fronts, and the floor those fronts will meet. Photos scope the job. They do not skip the site measure.
- The hall floor and the floor inside the void, in one frame if you can stand where both show.
- The bottom of the flight, showing where the carpet stops.
- Whether the carpet and the hall floor are staying.
- Any step, nosing, threshold strip, or mat the door would cross.
- A dip or a slope in the floor under the stairs, if you can see one.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I take the stair carpet up first?
Not for a first brief. Photos of where it stops are enough. If the carpet is coming out, say so, and do not have the storage made to a carpet that will not be there when it is fitted.
Can the new floor go in after the cupboard?
It can, if that order is agreed and the new floor is cut around the plinth. If you want the floor to run under the storage, it has to go down before the cupboard is fitted.
The hall is carpet and the inside is concrete. Which height matters?
Both. The door crosses the hall. The cupboard stands on the floor inside. A step between them is part of the measure.
Will a thicker carpet stop the door?
It can, if the door was made to a lower floor. Name the carpet you are keeping, or the one you are about to lay. A photo does not show a thickness well enough to guess it.
Does this replace the measuring guide?
No. The measuring guide records the opening. This note records the floor and the carpet. Send both with the brief. A site measure still comes before manufacture.
Next step
Name the floor before the fronts are drawn.
Send the hall floor, the floor inside the void, and a photo of where the stair carpet stops. Say whether those finishes are staying. We can plan the storage to the floor you will actually have. A verified site measure still comes before manufacture.
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