How to Cover Floor Stairs

Put on your safety glasses and knee pads.

Remove old carpet, tack strips, padding, nails and staples from your floor stairs. Use a broom to sweep down the stairs to prepare for carpet installation.

Calculate how much carpet you will need by measuring the stairs. To determine the width, measure the horizontal part of the stair. For the length, measure the riser and thread of each step. Measure all steps separately to ensure the proper measurement for the new floor covering. Stairs are not always uniform, especially the stairs near the bottom, which are often flared-out. Allow for extra carpet by adding three inches per step. Add up the measurements for each step to determine the total measurement. If your stairs were made with a nosing piece, add one foot to the total length measurement.

Prepare for carpet installation by applying the tack strips to left and right side of the the stairs perpendicular to the wall or staircase rails. Start at the top of the stairs and work your way down. Use your staple gun to secure the tack strips into place.

Tuck the carpet into the first stair. The carpet must fit correctly before you attach the carpet to the staircase by placing it onto the tack strips.

Use the knee kicker to tighten the carpet by positioning your knee onto the knee kicker and applying pressure to the carpet. Attach the carpet to the left tack strip by using the knee kicker to stretch the carpet from the center of the floor step and hooking it onto the tack strip. Slide the knee kicker back and forth to compress the pins. Repeat this procedure for the tack strip on the right side of the stair.

Smooth out the carpet and use your staple gun to staple the tread's crevice. Check the smoothness of the carpet's surface again and then staple the carpet underneath the stair lip. Before moving onto the next tread, make sure the stair you are working on is completely smooth and even. This step will save you from having to reinstall carpet to correct an uneven carpet several steps away.

Trim the edges of the carpet using a utility knife. Repeat this process to the left and right of each staircase step and on every stair as you work your way down.