How To Carpet A Staircase Properly And Elegantly

A carpeted stairway is a good option especially if there are kids and old people staying in a house. This is so because carpeted floor tends to pad falls thereby lessening the impact of the fall. A carpeted staircase also looks extremely elegant and adds to the charm of the house and is also sound proof. But staircases have to undergo extreme wear and tear especially at the edges of individual steps. Thus it is always practical to opt for a carpet which is:

• Strong,
• Durable and
• Easy to clean.

But there is a proper way to install the same which is quite different from the installation of the carpet on the floor and involves the following steps:

• • Each step of the staircase needs to be accurately measured and a carpet pad needs to be cut of the same size so that it fits perfectly on the step and its riser. Care should be taken to ensure that the piece of carpet pad cut fits precisely in-between the tackless stripes that have to be nailed at two places:
    • At the back end of the tread and
    • At the bottom ends of the riser.

• • In case of a staircase that climbs up straight, carpet pad cut for one step can be taken as a template for the other steps. But if the staircase winds up or is curved, this work becomes very tedious since individually each step has to be measured and the carpet pad cut accordingly.

• • The placement of the tackless strips have to be done very carefully both at the place where the tread ends at the back and on the riser. A spacer helps to place these strips precisely and accurately and can be made by taping together two tack stripes back to back.

• • The carpet pad then needs to be stapled into place by using a hammer stapler. This work needs to be started from the centre of the stair tread individually and then continued across the entire horizontal length of the pad.

• • The carpet pad then needs to be carefully wrapped around the edge of the tread so that it also covers the rider smoothly and tightly. The carpet then needs to be stapled again to the riser.

• • Then about 4-6 inches needs to be added to the carpet pad so that it can be wound around the edges to cover them entirely.

• • Next the carpet pad needs to be centred on the lowest edges of the steps and the ends pushed into the tackless strip using an awl. Care should be taken at this point to ensure that there are no folds in the carpet and it creates a clean line.

• • The carpet then needs to be stapled and a knee kicker used to stretch the carpet in the seam present between the riser and the tread.

• The carpet then needs to be folded around the edges of the steps and secure it again onto the tackless strip.

All the above steps have to be repeated individually for each step that is present in the staircase so as to have a clean and smart looking staircase.