Curving staircases are not a big problem. They just need some planning, especially when a pattern is involved, but more on that latter. The first order of business is to make a template or a pattern of the stair.

Photo 1


Photo 2
The lady of the house wanted a runner on the entry staircase. “OK, no problem,” I said. She then added, “ It’s a pattern.” “OK,” I replied. “It’s a curving staircase,” she finished with. “Really,” I tell her. “That will look nice.” (Photo 1).

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Curving staircases are not a big problem. They just need some planning, especially when a pattern is involved, but more on that latter.

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The first order of business is to make a template or a pattern of the stair. For this I use scribing felt, which is normally used for pattern scribing sheet vinyl floors.

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If scribing felt is not available, any heavy building paper such as roofing felt, or rosin paper for hardwood floors will do.

Photo 5a
Determine the customer’s desired finished width of the runner, in this case 32 inches. Secure the scribing felt to the stair with staples or tape. Mark the location of the centered runner on the scribing felt. I like to use at least 4 reference points on the stair: one at the base of the rise, one at the nose, at least one if not two in the middle of the tread, and one where the tread meets the riser. Also, mark where the stair starts and stops, as well as the top. (Photo 2)

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On most curving staircases, each of the stairs are the same, so only one template is needed. Just to be safe, I always make a pattern of a second stair to be sure they are the same. On this staircase the bottom two stairs were different, needing their own template.

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After the patterns are made (Photo 3) cut away the excess paper. This will leave you with the exact size of the finished piece of carpet for the stair.

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When you cut up the carpet, pick one point in the pattern to be the center on each stair. (Photo 4) This is the way you can curve the pattern up the staircase in an eye-pleasing manner.

Photo 8a
Now tape the paper pattern to a piece of cardboard (Photos 5 & 5a) and transfer the shape to the cardboard. Once the pattern is cut out of the cardboard, I like to protect the edges with duct tape. (Photo 6)

When transferring the pattern to the back of the carpet, make sure the side of your template marked TOP is face down. It is also a good idea to mark one edge of your template and the corresponding edge on the pieces of carpet with an X to assure the pattern remains in proper position. (Photo 7)

After the edges were bound, the carpet was installed (Photos 8 & 8a), creating a beautiful and dramatic entryway.