- 1). Examine your stairs to ensure that there are no nails or staples. Remove any such items that you find. Sweep the stairs so that they are perfectly clean.
- 2). Measure across the widest part of one stair tread and under any nosing at either end; this is the width of the carpet that you need. Measure the tread (in the short direction this time) and the rise of the stair; add these two measurements together. Add 3 inches to the second measurement and multiply by the number of stairs to find the length of the carpet that you need.
- 3). Find the center of each tread and each riser for each stair and mark these with a pencil. Subtract 1½ inches from the width measurement of the stair tread. Cut each tackless strip to this length with a saw.
- 4). Attach a tackless strip with carpentry adhesive to each stair tread, centered up against the rise of the next stair. Place the tackless strip so that the nails point toward the top of the stairs. Install a tackless strip to each riser also, centered about ¾ inch from the bottom with the nails pointed toward the bottom of the stairs.
- 5). Cut the carpet padding into squares or rectangles large enough to cover one tread and its corresponding riser. Staple the padding over the riser and tread; do not pull the padding too tight. Cover each stair in the case with padding.
- 6). Unroll the carpet that you cut to size over the stairs. Press the edge of a paint scraper along the tackless strip at the bottom of each riser to secure the carpet to it. Pull the carpet snug up the rise and secure it with a line of staples along the line where the tread and riser join; space the staples 3 to 4 inches apart.
- 7). Press the carpet into the tackless strip of each tread with the putty knife. Carpet the entire staircase. Trim any excess at the ends and tuck and secure with hidden staples.
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