Point me in the right direction for installing carpet on stairs...

[Philip Hallstrom]

Hi all -

I need to replace the carpet on my stairs... I've done a lot of remodeling (walls, electrical, plumbing, hard wood) but never stairs... and was hoping to get nudged in the right direction.

It seems like it's just a matter of cutting and stapling, but I'm sure there are some tricks/hints that would help me out :)

So... are there?

I'd like to wrap the stairs and have the bull-nosed effect rather than the waterfall (I think that's what someone called) it look.

So, any advice? Such as whether the carpet should be one long piece, or cut individually per tread/riser... what type of staples? how far apart?, etc.

Thanks!

-philip

[Pat Kiewicz]

I did one of the stairs in my house after watching a pro install the carpet on another. We had the relatively new carpet pulled out of the living room and refinished the hardwood floor. Most of this carpet was in good condition and was the same as the more worn carpet on the 1/2 flight down to the family room. (I hope I remember what I did -- I still have a roll of carpet and padding saved to repeat it if the carpet on the stairs starts showing too much wear.)

The stair treads actually have carpet tack strips on the top rear. I used long pieces -- long enough to do more than one riser/tread. Start new pieces at the bottom of a riser. Padding only at the top of the treads, not running all the way over the front.

Started at the bottom. Stapled the carpet up the first rise with a bunch of staples at the bottom, a few at the top and a bunch under the bull-nose. (Put these as far back into the 'corner' of the overhang as you can. ) Then brought the carpet up and knee-kicked it onto the tack strip. Used a wedge thing to push down behind the tack-strip and repeated. A few staples go in at the side of each tread and riser. Make sure the tip of the stapler is worked down into the pile otherwise the staples will show (crushed pile)