Since the weather has decided to take a grip here and I can't do the black tank fix, decided that the carpeting on the stairs going to the bed and bath room needed to be changed. It was stained, coffee, mostly() and lacked padding as well as having treads that just didn't 'feel' right as they were only about 9/16" thick with square edges. I don't have any photos but can probably describe the pain of this 'little' job.

I figured that if I cut the carpet at the bedroom door and down the middle, I could just yank it off of the tack strips and the staples. Of course it wasn't that easy as Keystone, in their infinite wisdom, made up that stairway with two separate boxes, individually carpeted and with that carpeting wrapped around the sides and actually up the insides as well. They then assembled those boxes already carpeted in the trailer. Not only was that carpeting stapled in place with several hundred staples, they had used some pretty long, large head screws. OK - got those boxes out, pulled whatever staples didn't come out with the carpet and found that the boxes were - of course, stapled together and since I wasn't too gentle yanking them out of the 5er, falling apart. Everything is now screwed and glued back together with a few replacement pieces that were split from too many --- staples. I then added a piece of 7/16 oak plywood to each tread to give the stairs a better look and feel, rounding off the edges on my router table.

I've also found out why home carpet installers charge more bucks to do stairs - it's tough work. My wife found a remnant of carpet that is a pretty close color and pile match plus a piece of padding. I didn't use tack strips but just stapled it in place with a 1/4" Harbor Fright crown stapler (that tool is another story). I also found out why there was no padding and the treads were so thin - the wood air return vents for the furnace are in the risers and are a certain dimension - they were easily cut to size on my table saw.

The landing at the top of the stairs was not recarpeted as it is actually an extension of the bathroom and is fully vinyl floored and IMO, looks better. The top and bottom were finished off with standard Home Depot nose and transition pieces. Total cost of this project - about $75 plus a $25 stapler. Timewise - guesstimate at ~8 hours plus some time chasing a few items.

Now, that HF stapler. The first one I brought home broke internally with my first trial staple. No problem. 50 miles later, have another. Oops!! barely works. Somewhere between China and here, it got damp. The staple pusher rod is rusty. Clean it up, remove some burrs and it still kinda almost works. Took the head off and the plastic cage holding the big thingy on top is jammed. Back together and off to staple - but it still doesn't work as well as it should but I did the job. Yesterday, I took the trigger valve apart and cleaned a chip and some other debris out of that plus added some good silicone grease - VOILA', now works very nicely in every position but overhead and that's an easy bypass or eventual fix. Not a pros tool but should work just fine for me.

This was actually a fun but a little frustrating project and for sure not a whine

 

Nice Write up.

but I am a little more concerned... about mine... not steps.. but


carpet replacement.. on kitchen/dinette/living room in our travel trailer..
as the dinette and living room couch is on the slide. and slide goes OVER the kitchen carpeting.
,
bites the dust.. in my little world.. that relates to failure.. not Finished... as yours is Finished and Pleasing.

 

Coincidentally we had a carpet guy in to estimate doing some of our house. In talking to him, he related the two loser jobs his store did on TTs with slides. They way underbid the job as they had no idea of what it entailed trying to get the slide to clear carpet along with the many, many staples. He also said that they had no idea as to how many edges had binding on them.

I did a fairly small TT about 12 years ago - that one wasn't bad but it also didn't have slides. I took everything that I could get to move, including the furniture/dinette out then went to work. The carpet was cut at the floor to wall molding, new, very thin padding installed and the carpet tacked down with a common electric stapler.

 

The stapler is crucial. I got ours at Lowes I think and it worked really well.

The slide issue, yeah, sometimes it is a problem and sometimes plenty of clearance. I very seldom have redone carpet and it was labor intensive. Making a floor look like something takes time and more money than most folks want to spend. with the advent of laminate, most folks go that way instead and do it themselves.

The easiest are the stick-on square vinyl, but doing it right, even those eat up the hours.

 

Thank You Both....

I will talk to wife.. on the stick-on square vinyl.. as I have done our Home kitchen and bathroom.. with that.

and our carpet does have binding.. maybe 20 feet. on one side.

 

I'd stay away from HF if I needed a tool I planned to use more than once......Lowes or Home Depot.

 

If you go carpet and need binding you can usually find someone to bind it for you. We have a guy we use that does a good job, though haven't used him in a while.

Given tracking in and out we tend to go vinyl and you can do vinyl sheet if you take your time. When I do that, I make a cardboard pattern first. It is much harder with some floorplans, however. You can also order the base trim like the manufacturers use from All_Rite (go online).

 

Dave - you seem to have the same method of dealing with projects as me.. Or at least the luck! Nothing is as easy as it first seems.
HF tools - some are crap and some are good. Some are really fantastic values.
When I go to buy a new tool I do my research first to see exactly what I need. Then I look to see where the tool is mfgrd. If the one that fits the bill is made in China - I figure I may as well look at HF. So I do my research in the various "Harbor Freight Pass Fail" threads on Internet forums like Garage Journal..
I have ended up with some pretty nice tools overall that way.
Most recently a 6" orbital buffer / polisher.. I used that thing to death buffing our my entire fifth wheel with polishing compound. Never skipped a beat..

 

I keep looking at the carpet in our slide & thinking about how hard it would be to replace. I've already taken out half the dinette & replaced the jackknife sofa with something far more comfortable. When they build these things they sure don't plan for future changes.

 

Couple comments -
Stick on tile. Our back entry hall is T shaped. For some dark and dreary reason the builder did one direction in oak flooring. The cross section between entry doors is regular underlayment. The P.O. nailed some cheap carpeting down which I immediately removed. I wasn't going to pull that underlayment out so I found some very nice stick on tile. It for sure was NOT an easy project but 20 years later still looks as good as the day it was installed. I don't/wont do vinyl sheet. Too expensive for my DIYer hands to screw up.

Harbor Freight tools - They are mostly fine for occasional use. I have a few that are absolutely fantastic for the price. The 2 ton engine hoist has been a godsend. Impact sockets - tried to break them but can't. Impact air gun - not bad but isn't as strong as advertised but it will loosen the 32 lug nuts on my truck plus remove caliper bracket bolts. Air metal saw - it went into the trash can. Spray gun - the much 'loved' purple HVLP - again, trash but I have a siphon gun that will throw house paint as fast as I want. I have my $$$ IWATA or my $$ DeVillbiss for quality vehicle painting. I have a couple sets of hand wrenches for the RV tool box which are OK for that purpose but not a pro level like my normal shop tools.

Randy - if a project went according to 'my' schedule and was fun to boot I would play the lottery as my luck had changed