Ping Sonny: How do you carpet a 2 x 4?

[DerbyDad03]

I need to wrap carpet around the end of a 2 x 4 that is attached to a sheet of plywood. Take a look at the images below.

The following is what I trying to get to, but without the bulky seams. (It looks bulkier in real life)

I managed to get that one sort of OK, but took me way too long. Snip, try, pull, fold, snip, fold, try, pull, staple, staple, staple, staple, staple.

I've got 5 more that I need to do. I'm sure that there is some angled cuts that I'm supposed to use, like the triangle cuts for a curve, but I can't figure them out for the corners.

The carpet is pretty stiff so that isn't helping either. Oh, yeah, the cut ends unravel too, so I can't have any exposed edges.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[krw]

Score the backing and fold?

[Markem618]

If you had some tack strip, attach it to a 2x4 use it for tension. Stapling along the inside of the 2x4 in your first pic and then getting it tight across the plywood. The corners are relief cuts with a lot of remove creep up on it, tucking and experimenting.

[Bill]

I won't give you any suggestions, I'll just tell you what I did in a related situation. Depending on where appearance matters or not. Where there are two layers of materials, cut away most of the layer underneath which doesn't matter much (provided it is stapled up to that point). Give the carpet a finished edge with a needle and thread, fold it over and staple it. Sounds like a PITA. Maybe the likes of Joann Fabrics have something you can glue on to give you a finished edge. It seems like a "problem" carpet layers would encounter--I know they often use a "strip". Maybe you could do the same??? Maybe emulating this last approach would make the best use of your time? Good luck!

[DerbyDad03]

There?s not much backing to score but even if that would help, I still need to figure out where to score and fold to line the seams up and hide the edges. First, there?s carpet that needs to be removed and that?s part of the technique that I?m missing.

For example, when you have to go around a curve, you cut out triangles and fold the tabs under the panel. If nothing lies on top of anything on the bottom, you don?t get any wrinkles on the top or along the edge. I got that to work perfectly.

I need a trick/technique like that to go around the ?corner?, behind the 2 x 4 and then continue wrapping the edge of the plywood, leaving no gaps or exposed ends. I?m sure there?s a cut pattern for that.

[Just Wondering]

[knuttle]

I would do it like I put carpet in the cabin of my sailboat. It has held up for many years

Cut the carpet so that the problem corner meets like the like the sides of a picture frame. Then sew the two sides fo the miter together.

ie make a carpet box to cover the 2x4 by sewing the parts together.

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks, but...

1 - This carpet does not cut to a very clean edge. Sewn together butt joints will probably not just blend in. Fairly stiff backing from which the carpet fibers unravel once cut. There's a lot of this which is hard to control:

Maybe I should have mentioned that these corners will be exposed.

2 - Take a look at the images in my OP. At the end of each 2 x 4 there are 2 open corners and 2 corners where the 2 x 4 is screwed to the plywood. Even if the miters matched up perfectly and the seams disappeared, how would you sew a nice flat surface tight against the end of the 2 x 4 considering that the sewing has to be done from the face (good side) of the carpet?

I've got 4 corners to do, so the "box" you mention has to be created right at the corner as shown.

3 - I staple...I don't sew ;-)

But seriously, I'm not sure how I would apply your technique in this situation.

[knuttle]

When you sew carpet, you need bigger stitches than you would for fabric. If it is really unravelly, you may use carpet tape and sew through that.

When I sewed the carpet in the boat the nap was was about an 1" and I was surprised how the seam disappeared once done

[knuttle]

In addition to the sewed pocket You may also wish to tack the carpet to the end of 2X4 for additional strength

[DerbyDad03]

I certainly wouldn't want the carpet tape exposed. Putting it only on the back wouldn't stop the unraveling.

You also haven't explained how I would sew the miters and keep the carpet tight against the end of the 2 x 4. Even a large, curved needle would make that difficult.

I'm not surprised at all that a 1" nap would hide a seam very well. A 1" nap could hide a lot of things, maybe even some small animals.

The nap on the carpet for this platform is about 3/16", in a loop style. It's too short to overlap a seam and hide it, especially the way it cuts.

Just curious...where would you use 1" nap carpet on a sail boat? Even the plushest carpets typically have naps of 1/2" - 3/4". Did you use shag carpet? I assume (hope) that it never gets wet.

Again, the nap on this carpet is really short. Even the 18g 1/4" crown staples I'm using leave a visible dent on the face of the carpet.

While I appreciate the suggestion, I'm not going to be sewing this carpet.

[invalid unparseable]

I'd practice with something easier to work with than carpet, then transfer my insights. Maybe work it out with corrugated cardboard first? Or newspaper first, and cardboard second.

Elijah

------ cardboard because it has some thickness and fold resistance

[DerbyDad03]

That's a thought. I'm currently practicing with extra carpet and a mock-up of a 2 x 4/plywood corner so I can deal with the thickness issues. Maybe I should try figuring out the angle cuts with some material that is a bit more forgiving, then move on to carpet and my mock-up.

Having already done 1 corner and 2 curves, I know how the carpet will "act" once I get the cuts right. It's really all about getting the cuts right at this point so I can bang out the last 5 corners without pulling my hair out.

The first corner was, as I said, nothing more than trial and error, snipping and stapling as I went. That's not a process I want to replicate 5 more times.

Thanks!

[Brian Welch]

May sound crazy, or lazy, but what about epoxying a piece on, securing with tape or stretch wrap, then trimming to size after cure? A mock up as suggested before seems to be a great idea regardless of your method(s) of choice

[hubops]

Or what about a nice piece of Corinthian leather < naugahyde >

stapled over the end - then it's a straight wrap with the carpet ? .. a stylish contrast ! :-) John T.

[DerbyDad03]

Exposed edges will ensue. Not favorable with this particular carpet for this particular project.

In addition, I'd still have to turn the corner to continue along the plywood.

[DerbyDad03]

Exposed edges will ensue. Not favorable with this particular carpet for this particular project.

In addition, I'd still have to turn the corner to continue along the plywood.

[DerbyDad03]

So I found a cutting pattern that works good enough. It's still a bit of snip, try, pull, fold, snip, fold, try, pull, staple, staple, staple, staple, staple but it's getting the job done pretty quickly. 2 more corners to go.

Perfect? No. The cut edges of this carpet are never going to seam invisibly and will continue to unravel, so some "under-tuck" and staple is required, resulting in some bulkiness at the corners. So be it.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Markem618]

Putting a bit of RTV will stop the fraying.

[DerbyDad03]

It will also stop it from looking good.