Carpet Edge Masking While Painting:

This Instructable describes an easy and effective method for protecting the edges of carpet when painting baseboards or stair stringers.

Materials Needed:

Plastic sheet. 3 or 4 mil thickness works well

Tools Needed:

4 inch or 6 inch plastic putty knife. Use a file to round off the edge of the blade.

Scissors

Step 1: Cutting and Placing the Plastic Sheet

Procedure for base boards:

Using the scissors, cut the plastic sheet into strips that are about 12 inches wide. I found that strips about 8 ft long were easy to handle without getting tangled.

Starting in a corner, lay the strip along the carpet edge overlapping the baseboard by about 1 inch. See Figure 1.

Step 2: Inserting the Plastic Sheet

Starting in the corner, hold the plastic strip's edge that overlaps the carpet and use the plastic putty knife to push the plastic sheet that overlaps the baseboard down between the carpet and the baseboard. See Figure 2.

Step 3: Continue

Continue this process until the carpet edge to be masked is completed. Figure 3 shows partially completed masking.

Step 4: Masking Carpet on Stairs

Procedure for stair stringers.

Using the scissors, cut the plastic sheet into strips that are about 12 inches wide. I found that stripes about 8 ft long were easy to handle without getting tangled.

Starting at the bottom step, lay the strip along the carpet edge overlapping the stringer by about 1 inch. See Figure 4.

Step 5: Inserting the Plastic Sheet

Starting at the riser of the bottom step, hold the plastic strip's edge that overlaps the carpet and use the plastic putty knife to push the plastic sheet that overlaps the stringer down between the carpet and the stringer. See Figure 5.