How to carpet a ply panel

Welcome to Combe Valley Campers panel carpeting guide. This 5 step guide will give you all the information you need to cover a ply panel in the four-way stretch carpet.

You will need

• a ply panel

• scissors

• Stanely blade

• High-temperature contact adhesive

• 4-way stretch carpet

• A workbench

Step one- Preparation

Like many jobs preparation is key, the surface needs to be well-prepped before you can start. If the panel is in a very bad condition then you might want to start again, you can buy pre-cut panels on sites such as eBay, custom shop designs or you can make one yourself. If you are going to remake the panel the easiest way is to place your old panel on the new piece of plywood, trace the panel then cut out the new.

If you are reusing the old panel then grab your self some sandpaper and work out any imperfections.

Helpful Hint-  When removing ply panels write ‘Front’ on the side that will need carpeting and ‘back’ on the reverse side. This will remove any confusion with what side to carpet.

Step Two – Cutting The Carpet To Fit

If you have an off cut of carpet from any other projects then, by all means, use it! If you are buying carpet then be sure to measure out the panel first, measure the two furthest points on both the height and the width. When ordering round the size up as although the carpet does stretch its best to have too much than not enough.

If you have an off cut of carpet from any other projects then, by all means, use it! If you are buying carpet then be sure to measure out the panel first, measure the two furthest points on both the height and the width. When ordering round the size up as although the carpet does stretch its best to have too much than not enough.

Helpful hint- Do not just cut around the shape of the panel as you will not have enough carpet to tuck over later. You want to be able to tuck the carpet over so you have a nice finish around the edge of the panel. 

Step Three- Glue Application

Start by laying the plywood onto the table. Place the carpet over the panel making sure you have a 10/15cm overlap all the way around. (make sure the presentable side of the carpet is face up.) 

Fold over the first 30 cm exposing the first 30cm of the ply panel and the reverse side of the carpet (where you will apply the glue) apply the high temp contact adhesive to the first 30cm of both the carpet and plywood.

Step four- Carpet Application

With the exposed 30cm lay the carpet down onto the panel gently, then smooth it down from the middle pushing out any creases to the outside. Allow 20 seconds for the glue to set.

Next peel back the remaining lose carpet so the panel and underside of the carpet are exposed. work 12/15cm at a time. Hold the carpet up and lay the carpet gently working from the middle pushing the carpet down with the palm of your hand. Repeat this process until you have fully carpeted the panel.

Step five-  Back Of Panel

Trim 5cm all the way around the edge of the panel with a fresh blade. (see photo) The underside will need to be flat so the panel doesn’t sit proudly, For this, we need to prep the carpet in a way that when its folded over it sits flat and doesn’t bunch up around the corners.

Start by slicing triangles into the carpet. The point of the triangle needs to be 1/2cm away from the edge of the panel. Once you’ve cut all the triangles into the corner areas you can apply the glue make sure that the glue is applied to both the panel and the carpet. put the palm of your hand under the panel and smooth the carpet over to stick on the edge of your panel. You can now stick down the triangles to the reverse side. continue this process around the whole board.

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