New carpet on stairs - stringer not an exact fit

Some_randomer

So I'm getting a new carpet on the stairs and landing and my stringer was laid on top of the existing carpet years ago. It was done this way as I had internal insulation put on the gable wall and the guy that did it made a new stringer.

Unfortunately it's not so even and was filled in on some steps where it wasn't a proper fit. I sent a pic to the guy I'm planning to get the new carpet from, and he said he "wouldn't be able to fill that part of the stringer unfortunately but I can fit the new carpet exactly the same way your existing carpet is fitted".

Anyone know the best solution to this when getting the new carpet, or any tips on what I could do to make sure it's done properly?

Tia

Four Phucs Ache

Sand down , remove excess paint etc, repaint with a diamond coat white.

DublinDilbert

Remove the old carpet first, you will want to repaint before the new carpet anyway, cause it will be a pain to paint after the new carpet is fitted.

Get a little delta / mouse sander, the little triangular pad will get in there and sand it down no problem. Then a couple of coats of paint. It will take no time once the carpet is off the stairs.

antiskeptic

Some_randomer wrote: »

So I'm getting a new carpet on the stairs and landing and my stringer was laid on top of the existing carpet years ago. It was done this way as I had internal insulation put on the gable wall and the guy that did it made a new stringer.

Unfortunately it's not so even and was filled in on some steps where it wasn't a proper fit. I sent a pic to the guy I'm planning to get the new carpet from, and he said he "wouldn't be able to fill that part of the stringer unfortunately but I can fit the new carpet exactly the same way your existing carpet is fitted".

Anyone know the best solution to this when getting the new carpet, or any tips on what I could do to make sure it's done properly?

Tia

Not surprised the carpet man won't have anything to do with it - whata hack job

Assuming its hard filler (and not silicone, in which case dig it out) part filling the gaps you can

- remove carpet yourself

- sand stringer with rough sandpaper paying special attention to filler. You want the gloss finish gone but not the paint off, except at the filler which you want bare and well scratched up to provide a key for the additonal filler to grip to

- fill with 2 pack wood filler eg ronseal. Sand that back when hard but don't wait too long - if you leave the filler for a day it'll be like rock and be much harder to sand

- use a block of wood under the paper when sanding filler to give you a flat finish

Job done

Some_randomer

Thanks for the answers but the problem isn't sanding it down - to my mind there'll be large gaps in some parts of the stringer when the old carpet is removed and the new one goes in.



So how do I fix those gaps.. or would it be easier to get a new stringer altogether?



(Also the walls have just been freshly painted so that's already done)

cheif kaiser

As antiskeptic says, you'll have to remove the carpet first. Don't just pull it up, this will only pull half of the old filler with it. I would cut the carpet out using a stanley knife. Run it along the edge of the new stringer, but at an angle so it cuts out the part of the carper that is caught under the stringer. Then you can proceed with sanding and properly filling in the gaps with a 2 part filler. Over fill it slightly and then re-sand so that it is flush with the rest of the stringer and then re-paint.