Installing Carpet Stair Treads
If you're planning on installing carpet stair treads on your beautiful new or old stairway, I would like to provide you with one piece of advice. Unless you're a perfectionist and actually have the time to learn how to install carpeting, you should let a professional do it. One of the most difficult tasks carpeting professionals face on a regular basis, will be installing carpet stair treads.
1. Unless the stairway is new, you will need to remove any of the old
carpeting or floor covering, before you even think about installing
carpet stair treads. You don't need to remove the wood stair steps, if
you're going to carpet over them and they're still in good shape.
2. After you've removed the old carpeting, clean the area with a
high-powered vacuum cleaner and repair any damage. This would include
removing and replacing any damaged carpet tack strips.
3. If you're starting with a new stairway, you will also need to clean
it and remove any construction debris. Then you will need to install
carpet tack strips about a quarter of an inch away from any walls or
stair treads. You won't be installing any tack strips on the stair
nosing or risers.
4. Now it's time to install the padding. Measure and cut the carpet
padding for the stair treads, but it's not going to be necessary for the
risers.
5. After you've installed the carpet padding, you can measure the
individual risers and cut one piece of carpeting, for each riser. After
you've completed the installation of the carpeting for every single
riser, you can measure and cut and install each stair tread.
6. You can actually put a few staples in to hold the riser carpeting in
place, but the stair tread carpeting will actually hold it in place.
This is only one way that you can use for installing carpet stair treads
and risers. Some carpet installation professionals prefer to measure the
width of the stairway, cut a long strip of carpeting and then install it
in one piece. Working their way from the top to the bottom of the
stairway.
Some carpeting professionals cut the carpeting about a half-inch longer
than the width of the stairway and make their final cuts, after the
carpeting has been installed.
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