Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - Carpeting stairs

I am about to carpet the stairs leading to my basement. I have never done this before. Can someone walk me through process and the tools that I will need to get the job done right? The carpet on the there now is old and it looks like they just stapled it to the stairs without using tack strips. All comments are gratly appreciated. Thanks

Howdy,

You're taking on one of the most challenging parts of carpet installation, so it will be particularly rewarding to get it done correctly. I'm happy to talk you through it. Don't listen to all the "hire a pro" sorts, I am one.

You will need a regular carpentry hammer, a tack strip cutter, (tin snips will work as a substitute), a hammer stapler, a good sharp knife, a good tape measure, a sharpie marker, a rubber mallet, a stair tool, and a knee kicker. If your steps are wrapped nose steps, you'll also need an electric tacker. (Also known as an electric stapler.)

First, determine the type of step you have. A wrapped nosed step has a nose on the tread that protrudes out past the riser and should be, a) consistent, and, b) deep enough to work with. Each nose needs to be the same depth protrusion or the steps will look strange. A variance of an eighth or so will be no problem, but half inch or so becomes problematic. They need to be at least an inch and an eighth or quarter deep or the nose looks like some sort of after thought. With a wrapped nose step, the carpet comes across the tread, wraps around the nose, goes back to the riser, and then drops down the riser. A water fall step has no nose to it. The tread stops even with the riser and the carpet comes across the tread and drops straight down the riser to the next step. A full wrap step has no riser. It's open at the back and the carpet either wraps all the way around the step to cover top and bottom, or it stops at the bottom of the leading and trailing edges and doesn't cover the bottom of the tread. Also determine if the steps are open or boxed, meaning, is there a wall on each side of the steps, (boxed), or is there no wall on one or both sides of the steps, (open)? The following is a picture of a set of wrapped nose steps that are open on one side.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/Finishedsteps004.jpg

In the interests of saving a little typing, determine what sort of step we're dealing with and then check back. The instructions will then be tailored to that step rather than trying to cover them all.

Hi Smokey

The stairs are nose-wrapped. Its looks like the nose is about an inch. There is a wall on one side of the steps. You mentioned one of the tools as a "stair tool"? Whats that? THanks for the quick response. Hope this helps.

You say the stairs are wrapped nose and have a wall on one side. I have to assume that means they're open on the other side. Does the nose continue around this open side, or dose it stop flush with the wall? The following is a picture of this sort of stair and the nose stops flush with the wall. For strip and pad, this has no bearing, but it will when you start putting the carpet on. In this picture, take note of where the pad stops at the bottom of the leading edge of the tread.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/stepsmess012.jpg

Here's a shot looking down on a striped and padded stair.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/Stripandpadinstall032.jpg

Take note of how the strip is done. Both sides of the stair should be done the same way. You should have a "U" of tack strip when you're done. To install the pad, set the pad in place, staple down one side of it. stretch it to the other side, and staple that side while you have tension on the pad so the staples will hold the stretch. Then staple the back edge of the pad. Get hold of the leading edge of the pad, pull it tight over the stair nose, and staple it to the nose. Work your way along the nose, stretching and stapling, until the whole thing is secured, then trim it off even with the bottom of the leading edge of the tread. Trim off any excess hanging over the tack strip and go on to the next step. You'll find it's easier to deal with if you start at the top and work your way down the staircase. It is the opposite with the carpet, but this works best with the pad. If the nose goes on around the open side of the stairs, place the tack strip at the outer edge of this open side. If it does not wrap around the outer edge of the stair, there are potentially two ways to handle it. If you are going to upholster the side, as was done in the first picture I posted, place the strip on the outer edge of the step, on the open side. If you are not going to upholster the side, but intend to just use a rolled edge that stops at the edge of the wall, place the strip an inch in from the outer edge of the step, on the open side. This area will allow the rolled edge to be doubled in that inch of space and not look weird. Now, I've made the assumption the open edge of the staircase is just that, open, with no edge of any kind to which the carpet will be terminated. Sometimes a step that is open on one or both sides will have some sort of wood trim going down the open side that the carpet will terminate to. If this is the case, the stairs are treated the same as a boxed staircase because there will be something to hide the edge of the carpet after it's installed. If this is your case, disregard the previous instructions on the tack strip along the open side and make the strip and pad look like this.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/Stripandpadinstall031.jpg

In the following picture, the shinny tool that looks like a big chisel is a stair tool.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/carpettools-2.jpg

If you think you have the strip and pad concept, either get that much done or check back and we'll begin the carpet explanation. Or, if you still have strip and pad questions, ask away and we'll keep at it until we're both confident you have the idea.

I am 95% sure that we need to treat this as a boxed stair because the non-wall side has a piece of trim going down the side of the stair that hides the nose but I will check. As far as the padding, is there just a standard padding for all types of carpets or does it depend on the type of carpet ie..thickness of the carpet you are using?

It sounds to me that you're correct, this will be treated as a boxed stair. I always recommend six or eight pound, 3/8ths rebond pad unless there is some issue you're attempting to deal with that may require a thicker pad. Are we ready to get started with the carpet install instructions?

Not sure about the original poster, but I'm reading to keep reading to see what you've got to say. I've got a boxed, waterfall stair, with a few stairs at the bottom that are open. I think I will be folding the carpet and wrapping it around those few ends that are open, and stapling.
I need to know how to cut the carpet.
I've read to not put tack strips on the sides, but to fold the carpet on the ends and tack them down. But I've also read to make the u-shaped tackless strips.

Not sure about the original poster, but I'm reading to keep reading to see what you've got to say. I've got a boxed, waterfall stair, with a few stairs at the bottom that are open. I think I will be folding the carpet and wrapping it around those few ends that are open, and stapling.
I need to know how to cut the carpet.
I've read to not put tack strips on the sides, but to fold the carpet on the ends and tack them down. But I've also read to make the u-shaped tackless strips.

I've repaired a lot of steps that didn't have strip on the sides of the treads. Your steps will begin to develop wrinkles that start at the junction of tread and riser, go toward the nose of the step, and will primarily be in the center of the tread, where the majority of the traffic wear is. As you step on the carpet, your weight will compress the carpet and pad in the area you step on. When it does, it will tend to draw the carpet fiber toward each side of your foot until you step to the next tread, at which point it will tend to rebound. Stairs are considered the highest traffic area in the house because, not only are they used a lot, but the traffic is concentrated to the same place every foot fall. Over time, if there is no strip on the sides, with the constant flexing and pulling toward the center of the tread, the backing begins to break down in that area, the carpet looses it's stretch, and starts wrinkling. The strip at the side helps keep it in place as you step on it so it doesn't get all the movement every foot fall. Do you intend to upholster the side of the open steps, similar to what was done in the first picture I listed, or are you going to let the carpet stop at the edge of the step? How to deal with either, in so far as strip and pad are concerned, was explained in my second post in this thread.

Yes I plan on doing the few open steps like you did in the photos. So make the u shaped tackless strips, then fold the carpet , bend it around the end and staple of the end. Correct?

Yes Im ready for carpet instructions. I will be measuring for the carpet and pad. Is there anything special to consider when measuring? I will definitely buy more carpet and padding than what is measured just to make room for any error.

OK, here we go. Pay attention, there may be a test at the end.

To determine how much carpet you need, first count the steps. Then measure them side to side. Carpet comes in different widths, 12 feet wide being the most common. Most standard steps are 36 inches wide or a bit less. If yours are a bit less, that's a good thing in so far as purchasing carpet is concerned. If you use twelve wide goods and your steps are less than thirty six inches wide, you can get four strips of carpet from one twelve foot wide piece. Length of carpet is determined by it's length, not it's width. For instance, say you were going to carpet three steps and needed to know how much to get. Measure the width of the steps and then take the widest one and divide twelve, (the width of the carpet), by that number. This will tell you how many strips you can get from a twelve wide piece of material. If your steps are less than thirty six inches, you can do four steps from a twelve wide piece because 36 inches, (three feet), goes into 12 feet four times. If your steps are wider than thirty six inches, but less than forty eight inches (four feet), you can do three steps from a twelve wide piece. If your steps are wider than forty eight inches, you can only do two steps from a twelve wide piece. So, lets say your widest of the three steps is thirty eight inches. This means you can only get three steps from a twelve wide piece, so you'll need roughly two feet of material. Say you have a twelve wide roll of carpet that, if rolled out in a parking lot, measures a hundred feet long. The length is one hundred and the width is twelve. Suppose you were to cut one foot off the end of the roll. You would now have two pieces, one ninety nine feet long and one 1 foot long. Both are twelve feet wide, so the width is the same for both pieces, but the length is what I'm trying to make sure is understood here. This one foot piece of carpet is not one foot wide and twelve feet long, it is one foot long and twelve feet wide. Carpet lengths are always figured this way because of knapp direction. Knapp direction always goes length ways instead of width wise. There is normally a secondary knapp that goes side ways, but the primary knapp direction goes lengthways. When installing carpet on steps, you want to keep the knapp going the same way on all of them and you want the knapp to run down the stairs, like water flowing down the stairs. Consequently, it's important to understand what I mean when I refer to carpet length. The width is a given and the length will change with each cut you take off the roll, regardless how much you cut off. If you take off a foot, that piece is a foot long. If you take off fourteen feet, that piece is fourteen feet long. Both are twelve feet wide. Now, lets get back to your stairs. Measure them all side to side and then divide the width of the widest one into twelve. This will tell you how many strips you can get out of your material. Then count the steps and divide the number of steps by the number of strips you'll be able to get from your material. Say, for ease of numbers, you have twelve steps, they are all less than three feet wide, and you can get four strips from your twelve wide goods. Four into twelve is three. This means you need to get enough material to carpet three steps. You'll cut your material into four strips, each long enough to do three steps, which will do twelve steps total. I know it sounds confusing, but it works out. Once you've determined how many steps you need to be able to do from each strip, start measuring from the top step and head down the stairs, measuring as you go. Butt the tip of your tape up to the bottom of the riser coming down from the main floor and measure the tread from the riser to the nose. Wrap the tape over the nose and down the riser to the next step, holding it wrapped with the hand that is not holding the tape box. Let the tape run down the riser and across the next tread, hold the tape in place with the same hand that is holding the tape box, and then let go of the nose and tape on the step you just measured and move that hand down to the next stair nose and hold the tape wrapped over this stair nose while your other hand is running the tape down to the next stair nose. The tape going over the nose you just let go of will flop all over the place and, as you work your way down the stairs, will be strung all over. You don't care. The most important thing is to not let the tape on the nose of the step you're measuring slip. Work your way down how ever many steps you determined you need to cover with each strip until you get to the bottom of the last riser in this set. Add six or so inches to what ever you come up with and that is the length of the piece of material you need. You add the extra because you'll need it. When you go over the nose of the step, you'll use more material than your tape said you would by a bit on each step. You won't need as much pad as you do carpet because knapp direction is not an issue with pad so you can turn it any which way to make the most efficient use of it. Once you've determined how much material you need, go get it and the pad. When the steps are all padded, mark each step from one to ... or "A" to .... with a sharpie. Measure each step again in two different places. Both are side to side, one being across the nose and one being at the back of the step. This is to determine if the steps are all the same width and if they are all true. I've found more steps than I can count that measured different widths, front and back. This will cause a problem if this turns out to be the case, but we'll address that if the need arises. For now, we'll assume every step measures out the same front to back, and they are all the same width. (I've seen far too many steps that vary in width in one staircase.) Say you are going to do four steps at a time and will be cutting your material into three strips. Start with the bottom step and measure the width of all four steps. If they are all the same. Cut your first strip of material that width. If the bottom step is different than the fourth step up, but the difference is a consistent graduation from narrow to wide, cut the material to correspond with this difference. If the steps are all over the chart, you may have to cut each step individually and do them all separately. In either case, work your way up, cutting each strip to fit a particular set of steps, marking which steps which strip does on the back of each strip, until all the carpet is cut. When you are finished, all the steps should be numbered or lettered and all the carpet should be marked as to which piece does which steps. Make sure you have determined knapp direction and make sure you have planned your cutting so the the strips have the knapp running toward the bottom. Put an arrow on the backing indicating which end of each strip is the bottom. This is getting sort of long so I'm going to sign off for now and do some more tomorrow.

Bigguy : When you cut the material to fold over the edge, you'll discover the material will have a gap where it makes the turn from horizontal to vertical. You'll need to make a plug to fill this gap. The first step or two will be awkward until you get a feel for it, and then you should be able to move right along. You may also discover the staples don't hold well in sheet rock. We had to do some extensive repair to the sheet rock at the edge of the steps I showed you and installed strips of wood for something solid to fasten to. By the way, The guy who did these steps had never done steps before. I schooled him on the process and this was the end result. He did the sheet rock modification, painted, and installed the steps pretty much by himself and did a great job. It still impresses me when I see these pictures. If he can do this well on his first set of steps, any one can.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/stepsmess004.jpg
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q72/Smokey49/stepsmess007.jpg

Part two: The cutting method I've just described is in order to do your steps in sets with no break from step to step, other than where one strip ends and another begins. Another method of doing wrapped nose steps is called "cap and band" and requires cutting each stair tread and each riser separately. The tread piece is installed first and then the riser piece is installed. With an inexperienced installer, the cap and band method might give a more crisp look to the joint where riser meets tread above it, but either method works. I've been doing this stuff for years so I don't take the time to do cap and band steps. I can make them look just as nice without that and it takes much less time. The steps in the first picture of this thread were not cap and band. How you choose to do them is your business. If you decide to do the cap and band method, the cutting will, of course, be done differently. But, in either case, get them all cut, marked, and organized before starting. Part of the cutting process needs to be to square the bottom of the pieces. This gets the material going up the steps straight. If the bottom isn't square and you do the steps in sets rather than individually, the material will tend to pull to one side or the other as you work your way up, and become a nightmare. Lets assume you are not using the cap and band install. Lets also assume you have cut strips to do four steps at a time. Roll the strip for the first four steps, yarn side up, starting at the bottom of the piece, so the top of the piece is on the outside of the roll. Carry the roll up the stairs until you're standing on the sixth step up and, keeping hold of the loose edge, let the material unroll, going down the steps. It will lay over the first four steps, the fifth step. and probably some more. Make sure the material is laying on the steps flat, running true with both sides of the steps, and is not running up the sides or gapped away from the sides. If the material is gapped, you have a problem. If the material runs up the sides some, trim it again until it fits well on the sides with no gaps or bunched up places. Pull the piece up the steps until you know it is short of reaching the bottom of the first riser, then go down the steps by walking on just the nose of the treads. The idea is to have the carpet still laying flat over the steps so it looks like a ramp rather than steps. When you get to the bottom, get on your knees, where you will remain for the duration of this stage, face the steps, get hold of the bottom of the material, and pull it down the steps until it will touch the floor at the bottom of the first riser with a few inches of extra. Place your fingers of one hand, palm down, in contact with the material so the nose of the tread is in contact with the palm of your hand, your fingers are on the tread, pointing at the back of the step, and your thumb is pointing down the riser under the nose of the step, ready to wrap around said nose. You should have excess material going over the nose and the carpet should be in contact with the floor. Apply pressure to the carpet going over the nose. This should force the part going down the riser to fit tightly to the floor. Starting in the center of the bottom of the riser and working to the outside edges, as you have the material in good contact with the floor, work the nose of your stapler into the carpet yarn, using a side to side motion, at the bottom of the riser. The idea is to get the nose of the stapler in contact with the backing of the carpet with no yarn being trapped between it and the backing. If you fire the stapler with yarn under it, you'll get staple marks in your carpet face. Starting in the center, continue this action to each side, from the center. Starting in the center helps keep the material straight. Once the bottom of the riser is secure, continue to apply a twisting pressure to the material, wrapping it around the nose and back to the top of the riser. This is where the extra over the edge comes into play. You want enough extra that it can reach all the way to the point where the riser meets the tread as you are applying pressure. I like to have enough extra that there is still some slack when the material meets the riser. When it does, I push a little harder. This additional pressure tends to put a bit of a crease in the material at this joint. Some times, with particularly stiff material, it will help to force the material around the nose and then, while holding it in place with one hand, use the other hand to get a better crease in the material with your stair tool. When you are confident you have the material pushed into the joint and the material on the riser is not bowed out, beginning in the center of the step, push the nose of the stapler into the crease and begin stapling using the same side to side motion as with the bottom of the riser, for the same reason. Fire two staples in the same spot and then move about half an inch or so and do it all again. Work from the center to one edge, go back to the center and work to the other edge. After all is secure, use your stair tool and rubber mallet and work your way along the stapled crease and make the crease nice and crisp. Look at the area you've just stapled and make sure you didn't miss any places and you got the staples close enough together to create a good creased look. Don't be afraid to add staples if need be. Also, check the stapler now and then as you work. You may not notice if you run out of staples and it's very frustrating to have the nose come unwrapped during the kicking process because there were no staples in the gun while you thought you were fastening the carpet. At this point, the riser is secure, the nose is wrapped and secure, and it's time to kick the carpet onto the strip at the back of the tread. Using both hands, thumbs pointing toward each other, palms down, thumb web pointing toward the back of the tread, fingers pointing toward the sides of the step, push the carpet down flat onto the riser and back into the crease where the back of the tread and the riser meet. This motion will pull your "ramp" of carpet partially down the steps. Now get hold of the sides of the material on the next step to be done and pull the carpet a bit further down, creating some excess, again, going over the nose of the next step you'll do. The next step is the place where most beginners will tear the carpet with the kicker. Place the head of your kicker so it sits flat on the step, nose aimed at the riser of the next step and pad aimed back at you. You'll notice the kicker is longer than the step is deep so the back third or so of the kicker hangs out past the nose of the step you're installing. It is important that you support the back of the kicker and keep it parallel with the ground. Don't let it sag down. If you do, the kicker teeth will not fully engage the carpet and will tear chunks of carpet out. It might not be a bad idea to use a sacrifice piece of carpet to practice on so you get the feel of it. Place the head of the kicker about an inch or so from the riser so that, when the kick is done, the nose of the kicker stops about a quarter inch or so from the riser. I've knocked several teeth off my kicker by kicking too close to the strip and hitting the strip with the teeth of the kicker. While supporting the back of the kicker with one hand, use the other hand to support the head of the kicker. Place your thumb on the top of it and your fingers on the tack strip at the side of it. Start in the center and make one kick into the tack strip. Then, while holding the carpet on the strip you just hung carpet on, move the kicker head to one side or the other the width of the kicker head. Using your head support hand, hold the part you've just set onto the strip with your fingers and use your thumb to hold the kicker in contact with the carpet. The first kick should be a straight, ninety degree to the riser, kick. All kicks from there should be at about a fifteen degree angle going into the corner you're working into. By starting in the center and working into a corner, coming back to the center and working into the other corner, you're less likely to get the material running up the steps crooked. Your kicks don't have to be those, "from the south forty", sort of kicks. Too much kick can tear carpet. The way I do it is to bend my knee and touch the pad with it. From that position, I just straighten my leg and bend it again, forcefully, striking the pad with the knee. I don't swing it back, just straighten and bend, forcefully. This process will feel very awkward at first, so take your time and work with it. Before long, you'll arrive at a method that works for you and gets the job done. Again, this is long and I'm tired so I'll pick it up again later.

part three: The reason for forcing material from the "ramp" to the tread with each step is to get the material as tight as you can from nose to back of step before using your kicker. If you haven't removed all the slack in the material before you kick, you may not get the material sufficiently tight. If this becomes the case, pull the carpet back off the pins of the strip, do a better job of getting the tread piece tighter with your hands, and kick it again. I can't stress enough, support that kicker or you'll tear the material. It also won't tolerate too many times redoing it so go slowly until you have a good feel for this. As soon as the material is hung on the strip and you're happy with the tightness of it, The next step is to use your stair tool and mallet to get a crisp crease where the tread of the step you just kicked in meets the riser of the one you will do next. Place the blade or nose of the stair tool into the crease, again starting in the center, and give it a couple good blows with the mallet. Then, instead of working your way into one corner or the other, go to the corner and repeat the process, then work you way from the corner back to the middle part you creased first. If you go from the center to the corner, the carpet might be off the pins by the time you get to the corner and you'll need to kick it back on. If you crease the center and then go from the corner to the center, it helps lock the carpet onto the strip at the corners. Once the crease is nicely crisp, rattle the pins to make sure the carpet is well engaged with the strip. To do this, lay your stair tool so it is parallel with the crease you just made. Take hold of the handle so your fingers wrap under it and the heel of your hand is resting on the top of the blade. Now pull up with your fingers while, at the same time, applying downward pressure with the heel of your hand. At this point the stair tool handle should be up at about a thirty five or forty degree angle and the nose of the tool should be in contact with the strip. The heel of your hand will be trying to pull the tool out of your fingers.This puts quite a bit of pressure on the nose of the stair tool and you can use it in this fashion to rub the nose of the tool along the tack strip. Doing this, if the carpet is well engaged with the strip, you'll both hear and feel it "rattle" as it hits the tips of the pins through the carpet. This process helps push the carpet onto the pins a little better and also helps determine if the stretch is tight enough. Once you are sure the carpet is tight, is well engaged with the strip, and the crease looks good, use your kicker again and kick the material onto the pins of the strip on the sides of the step. To do this you'll need to place the kicker so it is laying parallel with the tread and riser, aimed toward one side or the other. This doesn't leave much room between the pad of the kicker and the wall to swing your leg and it makes it so you have to strike the kicker pad with the side of your knee rather than full on. It will feel very awkward and you'll feel like you can't get any force into the kick so you must not be accomplishing anything. Do it anyhow, it does accomplish something. Make a kick and then, while holding the kicker where it stopped, stuff the carpet into the area between the tack strip and the wall. This will hang the carpet on the strip and give you a nice tuck to the side of the step and help keep it flat. Because you can't get a full force kick this way, the carpet won't be engaged with the strip enough to feel or hear the "rattle", but it will be engaged enough to keep it from developing wrinkles later. At this point the step is finished and you're ready to start wrapping the nose of the second step. At this point, as a final little bit of insurance, you can staple directly into the crease you just made at the joint of the tread of the step you just did and the riser of the step you're about to do. This shouldn't be necessary if you got the carpet tight enough, but may help you sleep nights knowing it definitely won't come off the strip. From here, it's just a matter of repeating all this until you get to the end of the strip you're installing. Hopefully, you've measured the length long enough that the last tread piece actually reaches the next riser with a little extra to trim off. Trim the excess off as close to the next riser as you can without leaving too much to stuff comfortably, and then use your stair tool and mallet to stuff it into the crease, just as you did to crease the rest of the steps. You should be ready, at this point, to start the next strip and, by now, should be much more comfortable with the process. You'll also, most likely, be ready for a break. Let me know if any of this seems vague or confusing or if it seems some detail is missing, and we'll keep at it until you're confident you've got it.