Having successfully carpeted several rooms I've decided to have a go at stairs. My main concern is hiding joins. The stairs has a 90 degree bend near the bottom. The stairs are very wide in the corner and I'm concerned that the carpet will be too bulky to fold neatly. So have decided to do these steps separately. I have read up how to do this and was going to hide the join under the nose by tacking the carpet and folding it up and over the nose to the step above. But now have read that the join can be hidden between the grippers at the base on the riser? Which is the correct way to do this ?
carpeting stairs
- Thread starter ameliak
- Start date
Sponsored Links
- Joined
- 2 Nov 2009
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 73
- Country
Errr no dont do that!
....carpet fitters hide any joins in the junction between tread and riser!
ideally you should fit stairs as one continous piece, starting at the top and working down the flight. In reality they may actually fit smaller runs of say 3 stairs, fitting each single stair individually is considered bad practice as the more "joints" you have the greater the risk of ending up with loose carpet. On your stairs this usually results in you descending the stairs much quicker than planned (
)
You should also pay attention to the direction of the pile (which should run down the stairs) - if you fit the pile sideways or upside down you will find it wears out incredibly quickly!!!!
...had you considered having it professionally fitted? "up-north" you should expect to pay around £30 - £40 (unless you live in a mansion) - this should give you piece of mind that the job has been done correctly
....carpet fitters hide any joins in the junction between tread and riser!
ideally you should fit stairs as one continous piece, starting at the top and working down the flight. In reality they may actually fit smaller runs of say 3 stairs, fitting each single stair individually is considered bad practice as the more "joints" you have the greater the risk of ending up with loose carpet. On your stairs this usually results in you descending the stairs much quicker than planned (
)You should also pay attention to the direction of the pile (which should run down the stairs) - if you fit the pile sideways or upside down you will find it wears out incredibly quickly!!!!
...had you considered having it professionally fitted? "up-north" you should expect to pay around £30 - £40 (unless you live in a mansion) - this should give you piece of mind that the job has been done correctly
- Joined
- 2 Nov 2009
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 73
- Country
Dont think I said that, but maybe my explanation was not the best, so I will try again
Firstly the pile of the carpet...
All carpet has a pile direction (this will be difficult to explain). If you gently run your hand over the surface of the carpet in each of the 4 possible directions (up down left right) then 3 will feel rough, resisting your movement, wheras one direction will feel smooth. That is the correct way your pile should run. You should fit the carpet so that it feels smooth from top of the stairs to bottom. If your stairs change direction then you change the direction of the carpet too. In other words the pile should always be running down the flight.
secondly fitting....
this is easier to explain, always start at the top - fit your landing first and then work your way down the flight of stairs
Firstly the pile of the carpet...
All carpet has a pile direction (this will be difficult to explain). If you gently run your hand over the surface of the carpet in each of the 4 possible directions (up down left right) then 3 will feel rough, resisting your movement, wheras one direction will feel smooth. That is the correct way your pile should run. You should fit the carpet so that it feels smooth from top of the stairs to bottom. If your stairs change direction then you change the direction of the carpet too. In other words the pile should always be running down the flight.
secondly fitting....
this is easier to explain, always start at the top - fit your landing first and then work your way down the flight of stairs
Sponsored Links
Dont think I said that, but maybe my explanation was not the best, so I will try again
Firstly the pile of the carpet...
All carpet has a pile direction (this will be difficult to explain). If you gently run your hand over the surface of the carpet in each of the 4 possible directions (up down left right) then 3 will feel rough, resisting your movement, wheras one direction will feel smooth. That is the correct way your pile should run. You should fit the carpet so that it feels smooth from top of the stairs to bottom. If your stairs change direction then you change the direction of the carpet too. In other words the pile should always be running down the flight.
Yes I understood about the pile or nap of the carpet running down the stairs
secondly fitting....
this is easier to explain, always start at the top - fit your landing first and then work your way down the flight of stairs
But advice online says its is easier for diy 'ers to fit from the top downwards but any professional with more experience would work up the steps. Now why is that?
- Joined
- 2 Nov 2009
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 73
- Country
how would that work?
....the carpet you are trying to fit will be in your way and impossible to work with!
I am not a fitter (but employ 6) and have given you good advice
- pro - fitters pre trim the width of the stairs (from the back - i.e. with the carpet upside down and using a straight edge),
then roll the carpet up (so that the pile direction is correctly orientated). They start at the top, unrolling just enough carpet to cover one tread and one riser this is fitted and chiselled in (note this needs to be done quite hard so that the carpet is firmly caught in the gripper fitted in the tread/riser junction)
before moving down to the next and so on.
I really think you should reconsider doing this job yourself - you seem determined to follow quite dangerous (in my opinion) advice. How will you feel if someone has an accident and falls down your stairs?
If you are determined to carry on, I will try and answer your questions as much as I can, but this is a difficult proceedure to explain in words (especially for an old grump like me)
....the carpet you are trying to fit will be in your way and impossible to work with!
I am not a fitter (but employ 6) and have given you good advice
- pro - fitters pre trim the width of the stairs (from the back - i.e. with the carpet upside down and using a straight edge),
then roll the carpet up (so that the pile direction is correctly orientated). They start at the top, unrolling just enough carpet to cover one tread and one riser this is fitted and chiselled in (note this needs to be done quite hard so that the carpet is firmly caught in the gripper fitted in the tread/riser junction)
before moving down to the next and so on.
I really think you should reconsider doing this job yourself - you seem determined to follow quite dangerous (in my opinion) advice. How will you feel if someone has an accident and falls down your stairs?
If you are determined to carry on, I will try and answer your questions as much as I can, but this is a difficult proceedure to explain in words (especially for an old grump like me)
Maybe the OP should listen to the good advice; get a professional in who knows what they're doing, and then ask if it's ok for you to watch how they do it. Just stress that you're not a trainee carpet fitter, just an enthusiastic DIY'er
hi, can i just say one thing here, i am a qualified carpet fitter of over 30 years and fitting of a H/S/L is not the easiest of jobs for a DIYer to do, and would strongly recomend getting a fitter in to do the job , more for the health and safety factor than anything .
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links
