I keep seeing installers skip the tack strip on stairs

I was doing a redo on a house over on Elm Street last month and had to fix three steps where someone just glued the carpet down with no tack strip. That stuff might hold for a year or two, but it always pulls loose at the nose where people step. How many of you still tack strip every stair or have you seen shops skip it for speed?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lucas1d ago

Wait, are these guys just skipping the tack strip on the nose too or the whole run? On Elm Street I saw a stair where they only put it at the top and bottom and the middle just floated. That middle step is gonna buckle like crazy once someone heavy walks on it. Plus, without that strip gripping the carpet tight at the edge, the padding shifts and you get a tripping hazard right where the step curves down. I've had to fix jobs where they used a thin strip of double-sided tape on the riser and it let go in like six months. Tack strip is cheap insurance for a part of the house that sees the most abuse.

finley_price241d ago

Actually tack strip is the right call on stairs since the nose takes all the abuse. Skipping it usually means a call back within a couple years.