We study the influence of disorder and lattice effects on the striped phase of the cuprates and nickelates. Starting from a phenomenological model of a discrete quantum string on a lattice embedded in a disorder environment, we derive the renormalisation group (RG) equations in leading order in the lattice and disorder strength. Three regimes are identified, the free gaussian stripe, the flat stripe pinned by the lattice and the disorder pinned stripe. We compare our results with recent measurements on the nickelates and cuprates and find good agreement with the experiments.