Quote:
Originally posted by jpmassey
-Any installers out there with advice?
-Anybody exerience this problem?
-How did they wrap around your lip?
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Can't really help you on the first two, but I just carpeted my stage last weekend so I can tell you a bit about that. I did it myself with some help and advice from a friend who was a carpetlayer for many years. My stage sounds much like yours, with a curved front and a lip of about 1.5 inches.
First we cut the underlay and stapled and glued the underlay to the top of the stage. Easy, nothing tricky there.
Next we did a test fit of the carpet over the underlay and made the cuts needed to go around the proscenium framing. We cut the carpet on the front with lots of excess - about 18 inches or more longer than the outermost part of the curve. Then we glued the carpet down to the underlay and let it set for a while. I suppose one could also use the tackless strips to help hold it in place.
What we did to wrap around the lip was to pull it over very tightly and staple up into the underside of the lip from the bottom. The stapler just barely fit between the floor and the lip, but the staples were good and tight. It worked well to have one person on top holding the wrap with both hands and the other person stapling in between. Wouldn't have wanted to do that part alone. We put the staples in every 3 inches or so to start.
As we worked along the curve, the excess carpet would start to bunch up, so about every 18 inches along we made a cut straight in towards the stage and that allowed the excess carpet to overlap a bit. Once we got the front completely wrapped and ensured it was even, we trimmed all the excess carpet off the lip by cutting against the vertical riser part. That also ensured that the top section was snug into the corner where the riser and lip meet. After that I went along and put in more staples, taking out every last wrinkle or bubble under the lip.
For the last part, the riser, we did much the same thing. Cut a strip a bit too large and fastened it with staples to the top of the riser. Once that was satisfactorily done, we trimmed the bottom off with a bit of extra to tuck in at the bottom. I was skeptical about just stapling that part, but the carpet has enough of a nap to it that they are not visible at all and most of the staples are hidden under the lip anyway.
Altogether, it took the two of us a couple hours. It looks very professional and I'm really pleased, especially since that was the first time I've done any kind of carpeting. It seems simple enough now, but if I hadn't had my friend helping I'm sure I would have botched it somehow.
Sounds like maybe your installer tried to cut the lip section to the exact length first, then stapled it in. Should have done it the other way, leave some extra until it is secured under the lip then trim away the excess. I can't see any reason there should be staples on the front, they should all be under the lip, back into the corner and hidden.