# Forum Home Renovation Home Theatres  Building the Riser

## Sterob

I spent the last two days building my riser. Have been doing it in my shed. Its made from 290 x 45 frame with 6 off 140 x 45 Joists and 19mm chip board flooring on top.  I haven't fitted the six joists yet.
I am still deciding how I am going to do the whole job.
1. Complete it in the shed and get a few blokes over to help me move it into the house ( 2900 x 1900....pretty heavy.)
2. Build it in two pieces and design a 'joining' method that maintains its strength alignment and and get smaller blokes to help me move it....
3. Build it in the shed, pull it all apart, move it bit by bit into the house,re-build it in the house and then carpet it in location.   
Any ideas? 
Steve

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## Godzilla73

G'day, 
Something like that I'd knock up in the room it's going in. You'll end up putting dings in walls and archs moving it around. Well anyone I ask to help me would anyway...

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## Sterob

> G'day, 
> Something like that I'd knock up in the room it's going in. You'll end up putting dings in walls and archs moving it around. Well anyone I ask to help me would anyway...

  Yes, that is a concern. I'm more worried about the mess a router and circular saw would make in the room....
Im an amputee, so carrying big heavy items scares me. It may not be a concern to others.
Thinking about it today, I am leaning towards building it completely in the shed, in two halves and getting mates around to move them into position. Each half will be around 2000 x 1000mm. 
Steve

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## goldie1

I would build it in the room but if thats a problem why not build it in the shed and part fix it with screws till you have it right 
then take it apart and full fix in the room

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## Sterob

> I would build it in the room but if thats a problem why not build it in the shed and part fix it with screws till you have it right 
> then take it apart and full fix in the room

  Think a bit more about it, It will be best to build and carpet the whole thing is the shed and move it into position when done. I work in an office with five other blokes, so I will arranges for them to all drop by after work one day, do ten minutes work moving the two sections and poke a couple of beers into them. Sorted...lol
Its evolving as I build it and I just about know everything I will do now...
I did an isometric drawing on 'Auto sketch', the other day, and that helped me to visualize it as a whole. 
I have cut it in half and added blocks to allow me to join the two halves once they are in the house. Progress has increase since the frame was completed. 
Steve

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## goldie1

If you carpet it in the shed in two pieces what are you going to do about the carpet join?

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## Sterob

> If you carpet it in the shed in two pieces what are you going to do about the carpet join?

  That is the only down side that I can see.
I can either carpet the riser with one piece of carpet and then cut it down the join, or carpet it with two pieces of carpet and continue the carpet down the side of the join and hope I can compress the carpet enough to screw the two riser halves together.
Both options seem to be problematic.
Having the carpet butt up together may look a bit manky and trying to push the two halves together may not be easy. 
Maybe I could make the gap between the halves large enough for two thicknesses of carpet to fill the gap?
Dunno..... 
Steve

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## goldie1

If you just cut the carpet it will fray over time. Turning the carpet into the join will be better. Cut a rebate into the timber 
down each face about half the thickness of the carpet down about 30mm from the top.  Then glue  the carpet into the rebate. 
Then you have the rest of the face timber to screw the two pieces together solidly. If you use a good quality cut pile carpet 
the join will not be noticable

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## Sterob

> If you just cut the carpet it will fray over time. Turning the carpet into the join will be better. Cut a rebate into the timber 
> down each face about half the thickness of the carpet down about 30mm from the top.  Then glue  the carpet into the rebate. 
> Then you have the rest of the face timber to screw the two pieces together solidly. If you use a good quality cut pile carpet 
> the join will not be noticable

  
Thanks Goldie, a great idea. Is this what you mean? Attachment 88466 
That will be easy to do with a router, I reckon. 
I finished the step and fitting all the joists today. I need a piece of pine to support one side of the flooring on one side, so I will get that tomorrow.
Here's a couple of pics of what I've done so far.
Steve  Attachment 88467Attachment 88468

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## goldie1

> Thanks Goldie, a great idea. Is this what you mean? Attachment 88466 
> That will be easy to do with a router, I reckon. 
> I finished the step and fitting all the joists today. I need a piece of pine to support one side of the flooring on one side, so I will get that tomorrow.
> Here's a couple of pics of what I've done so far.
> Steve  Attachment 88467Attachment 88468

  Still unable to open attachments

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## Bedford

:Smilie:

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## goldie1

> 

  Thanks Bedford. Yes that will do it . Keep each rebate about half the thickness of the carpet . The pile will compress and give 
you a good join. I can see why you need a few blokes to carry it. That things no going any where. Give any sharp corners a bit of a sand. 
Just had another look at your pics. If you are putting yellow tongue on it you just need to cut the yellow tongue a bit short at the join. 
19mm is deep enough for the carpet to glue to over the two edges. Get a good coat of contact on the edge as it will soak into a cut end. 
I assume you are going to have one side ( vertical face ) in carpet. A rebate there just needs to be deep enough to secure the two edges 
of the carpet so they don't fray 15mm should do.  If the exposed side  is the one with the dog leg  you just put the join at the internal 
corner and it doesn't need a rebate.

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## Sterob

The attachments were view-able to me, after I uploaded them..... I don't know what I did wrong :Cry: . Thanks Bedford anyway!
I've routed radii on the corners for cosmetics. The dogleg is at the rear, against a half-wall so won't be exposed. 
Got to get a couple more trestles so I can lift up the halves to work on them at waist height. Too hard on my knees..lol

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## goldie1

Just looking at your first thread will the riser continue part way across that step near the half wall?. Will the level be flush 
with the ceramic or are you taking the carpet over the ceramic floor? 
Just had another look at your chairs pics. So the riser is higher than than the ceramic floor with carpet down the front, side and part back 
vertical face. Now I get it!

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## Sterob

> Just had another look at your chairs pics. So the riser is higher than than the ceramic floor with carpet down the front, side and part back
> vertical face. Now I get it!

  Yep, the riser is about 80mm higher than the ceramic floor. 
I went looking at carpet today and asked the guy if he could carpet the riser and if so, how much would it cost.
He came around and had a look and we discussed how I wanted it done and he said about $250. That sounds pretty good to me....lol
I'd hate to do it and end up with a sloppy job.
I told him about the rebating on the edges and he agreed. ( thanks Goldie) and I got some scrap carpet off him to do some tests and work out how deep the rebates need to be to get a nice neat join. 
Steve

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## Sterob

Work continues although slowly due to my cut thumb.
I've fitted the joists, another smaller joist on the end of one half of the riser, most of the wiring and started preparing for the hatch covers.
I want to have access to the main power connection and the 12v power supply for the step LED strips.
I've decided on how I am going to do the hatch covers. I have a cheap S/H 1/2" router, but it did not come with any accessories, so I've ordered a Triton 1400W Router with a template kit.
I'm going to make two templates for the hatches ( with rounded corners ) and use the router and 10mm straight bit to cut the hatch covers out and the 10mm gap will be just right for the carpet clearance.
I've already added the noggins for the hatch covers.
I'm going to fill the Riser with insulation to stop resonance and that needs to go in before I fit the flooring, so to hold it all in when I move the risers, I'm going to add 5 thin wood strips across the bottom of both halves. 
I can't believe how much work this is involving.... 
Steve 
Both halves are upside down at the moment.

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## Godzilla73

Looking good, 
Be worth it in the end. :2thumbsup:

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## Sterob

I have finished fitting all the thin battens across the bottom of each half of the Riser, routed the underside ( to aid carpet fitting and looks) and started cutting the chipboard flooring to fit the tops.
I want to have the halves sitting on two fold up tables I have, to make it easier to work on, but they are not strong enough and I fear they will fail under the weight. I don't want to work on my knees, but might have too if I can't find a solution. I do have some saw horses but sitting them on those is a bit precarious.
The flooring really increases the weight alot and will make them alot harder to move so I will have to move the sections into place and re-fit the flooring in situ.The same with the insulation so it looks like all the work gone into fitting the thin battens to hold the insulation in place will be a waste of time....oh well.... 
Steve

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## Sterob

I cut all the flooring,tacked all the pieces on to the Riser and trimmed them to size with my router. Just have the step top to go.
I made a ship load of dust today....amazing...I was covered in it. 
I just noticed I have been at this for a month now. I have no idea the hours I've put in it, but its a lot!
Steve

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## Gaza

what are the little battens for ?

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## Sterob

> what are the little battens for ?

  They *were* to stop the insulation from falling out of the riser when I move the risers into place, but I am going to leave the flooring off to move the risers.( Make then lighter to move )  I can then install the insulation in situ before I put the flooring back on permanently.

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## Gaza

> They *were* to stop the insulation from falling out of the riser when I move the risers into place, but I am going to leave the flooring off to move the risers.( Make then lighter to move )  I can then install the insulation in situ before I put the flooring back on permanently.

  so are you going to carpet in place now after you have installed the units

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## Sterob

> so are you going to carpet in place now after you have installed the units

  Yep,
Finish in the shed, move to the house in two parts, install insulation, re-fit flooring and get the carpet dude to cover in carpet. 
My plan has changed as I've done the work....lol

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## Sterob

I did some more today. I got 90% of all the routing done. I just have to rebate and round of the centre sections ( where the two section butt up again each other.)
I fitted the led light clips and drilled access holes for the wiring.
I used a template guide for cutting the hatch covers but couldn't get a deep enough cut, so I had to resort to other hand tools to complete the cuts. Worked out well in the end.
One more days work and it should be ready to carpet. 
Steve

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## Sterob

This is on hold for a few weeks now. Having a short hospital stay and won't be able to be too active when I get home.
So close, and yet so far......I started the rebating at the sections join, but did not finish. I also need to finalise the electrical wiring.
Steve

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## goldie1

Nice bit of work there Steve. Doing it with the bull nose like that means you can put a separate piece of carpet on the 
vertical sections. The top piece just finishes under the bull nose. Only the side riser of the step has to come down to the  
step with one wrap round join at the front corner. You will need a good quality cut pile carpet to make those rounded corners  
look good as you have to cut V pieces out to get it to wrap over. What carpet have you chosen?

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## Sterob

Yeah, it should workout great.I think the bullnose really sets it off and stops it looking like a big box on the floor.
The carpet is a cut pile, about 10mm high, and $120/mtr so should be ok.
The extra timber under the edges also hides the led strip lights, so they should look nice. Will have to post a 'night time' shot when I'm done...lol.
Steve

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## goldie1

Steve does you carpet layer know you were going to have round corners with bull nose when he gave you the quote? 
A square corner with out a bull nose has only one join, what you have now has 4 or 5 on each corner. He has allso got to 
trim in to your leds under the bull nose which makes it even more difficult. Take a piece of stiff 
paper and try and fold it over the corner to get the idea. You will have to cut Vs out of it to get it to sit right. Don't assume 
he has done this kind of work before. Most carpet layers spend their whole working lives just doing square rooms. When I was 
doing theatre fit outs I had 2 or 3 blokes I would use and no one else. I would discuss with him be for he starts how he is 
going to do it and may be see if he want's to do it on an hourly rate so he can take his time with it. The cost wouldn't be  
much more anyway.

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## Sterob

I see what you mean. I don't think that I had planned the round bull-noses when we discussed the job. I will definitely go over the job again with him. I e think his quote was on the cheap side, so I am expecting a higher figure anyway.
He says he has done quite a few Risers around town, and also back in the UK and I have no reason to doubt that.
We have discussed taking them down to his shop so he can work on this job at his leisure, but it depends on how hard they are to move to and from his shop (2 km away)
He has done several jobs for me in the past so we have a good re-pore. 
Steve

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## Sterob

I did a little bit more today. I worked out how the 12v wiring would be run to enable quick connect and dis-connect of the led strips lights. Not really necessary, but it will help with re-fitting the lights after the carpet goes on. My lights came with a male dc connector on one end and female connector on the other so they can be daisy chained. I cut all the male connectors off and counter sunk them into the Riser so each light can be just plugged in. Very neat. I soldered extension twin flex wire onto the plugs and ran the wiring back the the RH hatch, where the 12V supply will be mounted.
I did a quick test with the lights out and they should be great. If anything they will be a bit bright, and if so, I can fit a dimmer.
Steve

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## goldie1

Looking good. Have you selected the opening night movie? Gone with the wind? Top gun with the sound cranked right up? 
How about suggestions followed by a poll?  :Smilie:

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## Sterob

Oh, we have been using the HT for ages now. You didn't expect me to wait until its finished before I used it, do you?...lol

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## goldie1

No I am talking abut the opening night when you have the whole thing finished. When you have the search lights  
set up out the front of the house and invite the celebs over   :Smilie:

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## Sterob

I am thinking of securing the Riser to half wall and the step with a single 100mm tek screw and wall plug at either end. I've a 80mm section at either end to do this. I thought it would be a good idea just to prevent any possible creeping as people step on and off it.
Do you think it necessary? I'll have to drill through a tile on one end and use one of the large orange wall plugs and if the riser is ever removed, the wall plug will look a little unsightly.  
Also, should I wrap the carpet on the underside of the riser, or just run it flush with the bottom. If I run it under, it may protect the timber laminate flooring from being scuffed and compensate for any slight twisting in the frame.
Your thoughts? 
Steve

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## goldie1

Yes I think I would fasten it in some way. It wont need much to keep it from moving. Where you fasten in to the tile area could 
you get the plug into the grout join then you can remove the plug and grout the hole. Or could you get a fastening into the  
side wall. The carpet under the frame is a good idea as even if fastened there will be enough movement to scratch the floor. 
If you are carpeting in the room it would be easier to  glue some separate strips on the edges before you move it into the  
room.

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## Sterob

> Yes I think I would fasten it in some way. It wont need much to keep it from moving. Where you fasten in to the tile area could 
> you get the plug into the grout join then you can remove the plug and grout the hole. Or could you get a fastening into the  
> side wall. The carpet under the frame is a good idea as even if fastened there will be enough movement to scratch the floor. 
> If you are carpeting in the room it would be easier to  glue some separate strips on the edges before you move it into the  
> room.

  Thanks Goldie.
Unfortunately, the step is one tile high, so I don't have the liberty of using the grouted area. It will be quite obvious, I'm afraid, if the Riser has to be removed.. I don't think the previous owners left any spare tiles around either, so I am stuck. No matter... 
I will ensure the bottom is covered with carpet, thanks. 
Still feeling pretty crappy after the Op ( jaw surgery.) so it hard to get motivated now.

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## Sterob

I have done all I can do on the Riser today, before it get carpeted.
The insulation didn't behave, so I slung plastic sheet along the bottom to keep all the insulation at bay.
I will go and see the Carpet Dude tomorrow and work out a plan. He might want me to leave the flooring off until he finishes putting the carpet on the all the sides. I reckon it will be easier for him. I also want to know where he wants to do the job, my place or in his business. 
Steve

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## Sterob

I got a mate to pop over today to help me move the Riser into the HT. It was a struggle, but we made it. It was the bulk more than the weight.
They actually fit as well, so that's a bonus...lol
I'll do a final check tomorrow and then I can go and see the carpet guy and get a plan happening. 
Steve

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## goldie1

Steve could you get fastening to the tile step into the vertical grout join?

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## Sterob

> Steve could you get fastening to the tile step into the vertical grout join?

  Yes, I'll look into that tomorrow. That will be one less job to do.
I've laid the flooring on loose until I know how the carpet dude wants to tackle it.      
Steve

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## Sterob

The Risers are screwed together and the locating wall plugs fitted.
I went and saw the carpet guy and his layer has just hurt his back and also has a few job backed up so it will be a couple of weeks before we get it done....... :Frown: 
He agreed to re-inspect the job so he can eye-ball any design changes from the original concept. He seems to think leaving the tops off until he has done the sides will work well. Sounds good to me.
Just have to wait for him to ring me now.  
Steve

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## goldie1

Leaving the tops of would be the way to go. Do the vertical bits first except for the parts without the bull nose  
which have to wrap over then fix the corner part of the floor so he can wrap the edge over into the floor join then  
fix the second part of the floor. He should be able to tuck the second edge down ok. Then the hatches and step. 
The  way you have built it now you don't necessarily have to use contact adhesive, trowel on carpet adhesive 
would be quicker. It could be stapled up under the bull nose to hold it while the glue dries. The staples would not 
be seen.

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## Sterob

> Leaving the tops of would be the way to go. Do the vertical bits first except for the parts without the bull nose  
> which have to wrap over then fix the corner part of the floor so he can wrap the edge over into the floor join then  
> fix the second part of the floor. He should be able to tuck the second edge down ok. Then the hatches and step. 
> The  way you have built it now you don't necessarily have to use contact adhesive, trowel on carpet adhesive 
> would be quicker. It could be stapled up under the bull nose to hold it while the glue dries. The staples would not 
> be seen.

  Thanks Goldie, I'll keep that in mind when we have our planning meeting. 
Steve

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## Sterob

I FINALLY got the riser carpeting finished today. I had to keep onto the guy and he only committed to doing the work once I rang him. Not the best way to please your paying customers, but there you go...
I'm really happy. It turned out just how I wanted it to. No word on the cost yet, but I am expecting a sizable sum, as it took him most of two days to do it. He whinged about how hard it was to do as well, so I take that as a sign to brace for the bill...lol
I just have to fit all the GPO's, screw the two halves together and screw the whole riser to the back step.
Steve

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## goldie1

Its come up well. You have got to be happy with that. I would have thought some one who was doing that kind 
of work regularly would have taken a day  but most carpet layers would do some thing like that rarely. 
Still better to take his time and do a good job

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## Sterob

Yep, very happy. My round bull nose corners made it more difficult for him. ( not the original way I told him I was going to do it ) but that doesn't matter. It's all about the looks...lol  
Just doing the wiring today and it will be all done. 
Steve

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## Godzilla73

> My round bull nose corners made it more difficult for him.

  What, he's never done a staircase before? Sounds like a real character, i personally haven't had a good experience with any of the carpet layers i've had working at my place. 
All have chipped freshly painted skirting and archs or left marks all along the skirting with the metal tool they use to tuck the edges in  
The worst punched his carpet stretcher thru a plaster wall and told swmbo that it was like that before he started. Pity the pics i took the night before of our handy work showed otherwise.

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