Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - carpet coming up on stairs

My problem is that the carpet on the stairs has come up and is buckling at the 4th or 5th step up. I'm not sure what would be the best way to re-anchor the carpet down without it coming up again. My first though was to use panel nails but thought it would look a little on the cheesy side. It looks as though every 2 steps or so is a different piece of carpeting. I'm not sure if this is normal installation or not either.

please help before one of us falls down the stairs

Here is a link to an online video on how to install carpet on stairs. This method only works when there is tack strip on the outside edge of the step. A stair tool can be purchase at most big building supply stores. If that does not work out you might try carpet tacks or staples
http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/videos/carpet-installation.htm

I watched the video mentioned and, not meaning to sound argumentative, but I don't think that will help you and I don't agree with the instructions being given. First, what kind of step do you have? The one in this video is a waterfall step where the carpet comes across the tread and falls straight down the riser to the next tread. The other type is a wrapped nose step where the carpet comes across the tread, wraps around a stair nose which protrudes out past the riser, and then goes down the riser to the next tread. This video makes the claim that steps must be done one at a time or they'll come loose in a year or so. This is only true if the installer is unskilled. I always do the steps last for two reasons. I don't want the new carpet messed up with a lot of traffic and I use the left over pieces as much as possible so the home owner doesn't have to buy any more material than necessary to get the job done. Consequently, each job is different. Some may have the steps done individually, some may be done in long strips, or some may be a combination. In any case, how long the strips are is immaterial so long as the job is done correctly. I've known a few installers who put great emphasis on their "cap and band" steps and how that's the only real way to do a wrapped nose step. They were all hacks and were trying to impress folks by using technical jargon to cover their own inability. This is a legitimate installation method, but certainly not the only method and the end goal is a step that stays installed and looks good. One of the things that will cause steps to come apart is a wrapped nose step being done as a waterfall. Hense, the reason for the question, what sort of step do you have? Is there any chance you can provide a picture of the problem? That will speed the diagnostic process greatly and cut out many questions so we can get to the correct repair procedure in your instance.

Every two steps is covered by a separate piece of carpet. The capet wraps around the stair nose then goes down the riser. There are two tack strips in the edges of each step, one on the bottom of the riser and one on the top. Sorry I cannot post attachments.

The description you give sounds like a wrapped nose step, but the tack strip is done as a waterfall step. With wrapped nose steps, there is no tack strip on the riser. The strip is done as a "U" shape on the tread with strip on the back side or the edge against the riser to the next step and strip following the edges next to the walls. There should be no pad on the riser and the carpet should follow the contour of the stair nose before dropping down the riser. If there is tack strip on the riser with this kind of step, the installer has normally tried to take a shortcut and didn't wrap the nose but merely waterfalled it. This puts the carpet going up the riser at too steep an angle to properly engage the pins of the strip on the riser and they tend to come apart over time. The carpet comes loose from the strip on the riser which causes it to relax too much and then come off the strip on the tread. Most installers who do this sort of thing will also leave out the strip on the side of the step and it doesn't take long for things to ball up. At this point, I'm trying to determine what has caused the problem so we can properly address a repair, so bare with me. Does any of this sound like what you have going on?

As long as "waterfalled" means coming straight down, this is exactly what happened. The carpet does not make a "u" shape around the nose of the step, although i'm sure it would look a lot better that way. These steps are in a 28 unit apartment complex I manage and to the best of my knowledge, none of the stairs in any of the units here have the noses of the stairs wrapped. But currently only my apartment and one other have this same problem.