First shot at carpeting....

[tonynoriega]

Fully glued and stapled the hatch lid, and just stapled in place the platform carpet...

First time upholstering anything really...

Used contact cement....put it on the carpet first, then the wood... waited about 5 minutes... it got a bit tacky...

pressed the wood onto the carpet, face down... stepped on it, rolled it, pressed it...did everything I could to ensure a good bond...

Flipped it... pulled up the sides, then the top and bottoms.... glued and staples... feels pretty tight.

Left it in the sun to bake for an hour or so...

Any ideas on a good way to lift the hatch?

Materials wise, I was thinking ... I have some of that "backpack" strapping stuff... cut several inches off that... glue and melt the two ends.
Staple it to the inner bottom and pull it out... kind of like a finger strap ...???

 

[redbug]

If it were me I would use a few screws abd washers to secure it

 

[muskiemike12]

I stapled mine and it has held up just fine. I didn't loop my strap though. A screw isn't going to hold much better in 1/2" ply than 4 staples.

 

[redbug]

muskiemike12 » Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:54 pm[/url]"]I stapled mine and it has held up just fine. I didn't loop my strap though. A screw isn't going to hold much better in 1/2" ply than 4 staples.

my thinking is the screw and washer will spread the tension but you may be right

 

[bulrid8]

I used looped straps on all mine. All of them are stapled on. They will hold fine. Not a lot of force on them.

 

[bcbouy]

maybe try looping the strap and screwing it in with a stainless finishing washer from underneath? home depot has them for a few pennies.