c/carpet-installers

The debate about pre-stretching carpet before glue-down jobs

I had a talk with a guy named Mike at a supply shop last Tuesday. He said pre-stretching is a waste of time for glue-down since the adhesive holds it. But I've always done it to avoid ripples later on. Which side do you fall on here?

Was dead set against seam tape for years, now I use it on every job

I always thought seam tape was a gimmick and just used glue like I learned back in 98. Then a customer in Austin complained about a seam opening up 3 months after I did their living room. I went back, ripped it out, and used a good seam tape this time. It's been 8 months and that seam is still flat and tight. Who else was late to the tape game and what brand do you swear by now?

Had to pick between a power tucker and a knee kicker for a tricky stair run today

Just realized running carpet perpendicular to the joists saves me 20 minutes per room

I always used to run it parallel like I was taught. Then last month on a job in Tulsa I had a weird layout and tried it the other way. Less buckling issues and way less trimming around floor vents. Has anyone else tried switching direction on purpose?

That homeowner in Scottsdale told me to glue down her carpet over a floating floor

I was doing a bid in Scottsdale last Tuesday and the lady insisted I glue her new nylon carpet directly to her click-lock LVP floor because she wanted it 'permanent.' I tried explaining the LVP would buckle and the glue would never hold, but she just stared at me and said 'my brother does it all the time.' How do you guys handle customers who think their family's hack advice beats decades of install experience?

Rolled 200 yards of carpet wrong way last month and learned a painful lesson

Glue-down vs. stretch-in for residential living rooms - which do you swear by?

I just finished a 12x15 living room in a split level and went with glue-down because the customer had tile downstairs below. It came out flat and solid, but man, the cleanup took forever. Has anyone else had better luck with stretch-in on upper floors or do you stick with glue for good?

Customer in Raleigh pointed out my seams were too tight and she was right

Had a lady stop me halfway through a bedroom install last week and ask why I was forcing the seams together so hard. She used to work in flooring she said. I was trying to get them perfect tight but she showed me how it was causing the backing to buckle in the middle. Backed off about 1/8 inch on the next stretch and the seam laid way flatter. Anyone else get told something obvious from a customer and had to admit they were onto something?

Knife slipped on a carpet seam and cut right through the backing

I was doing a bedroom in a house off Maple Drive last Thursday, trimming the edge along the wall, and my hook blade skidded off the seam tape and sliced straight through the backing. Ended up having to cut out a 2-foot section and patch it because the tear was too deep to hide. Anybody got a trick to keep the blade from catching on those seams?

I was dead wrong about power stretchers for years

I always figured a knee kicker was good enough for residential jobs and those power stretchers were just an extra expense. Then I did a big living room last month in Atlanta with some high-end carpet that kept rippling no matter what I did. Borrowed a power stretcher from a buddy and the whole job went smooth in half the time. Has anyone else had a tool they ignored for years that turned out to be a game changer?

Spent $300 on a power stretcher that didn't fit my van

Bought a used power stretcher off FB Marketplace thinking I got a steal. Got it home and it's like a foot too long to fit in my Ford Transit. Took up half the cargo space. Ended up selling it for $150 a month later. Anyone else run into gear that just doesn't work with your setup?

Been using a 6' level for seams the last 6 months and it's a game changer

Threw $350 at a used rotary stretcher and it paid off in a month

Bought a secondhand Roberts 10-footer off Craigslist for $350 instead of renting one every job, and after three big rooms in a commercial building it already covered its cost. Anyone else take the gamble on used gear like this or do you stick with renting?

Saw a huge difference after switching to a oscillating trimmer for doorways

I used to use a knee kicker and a hook knife for trimming around door jambs and it always looked a little rough. Last month I picked up a oscillating trimmer from Harbor Freight for like 40 bucks just to try it. The difference in how clean the edge sits against the jamb is night and day. I did a whole 12 foot hallway with 3 doorways in about 45 minutes. Has anyone else found a tool that just changed the way you finish a certain part of the job?

Pro tip: that McAllen job site changed how I handle seams forever

I was on a big commercial install down in McAllen, Texas about 8 months ago. We had this huge open office space and the spec sheet called for a really tight seam pattern that I thought was overkill. The foreman made us redo three seams because they were off by maybe a sixteenth of an inch, and I was pretty annoyed at first. But after we finished, the owner walked through and pointed out how the light hit everything perfectly with no shadows, and I finally got why he was so picky. Any of you guys ever had a boss or client that seemed too strict about something, then it turned out they were right?

Used to stretch carpet with a knee kicker for everything, now I use a power stretcher for almost all my residential jobs

Back when I started 8 years ago I thought a knee kicker was fine for a 12x15 room because that's what the old timer who taught me used. Three years ago I finally bought a power stretcher after dealing with a wrinkle call back on a hallway in Phoenix where the customer pointed at a ripple that was maybe an inch long. Now I use the power stretcher for any room wider than 10 feet and I only touch the knee kicker for closets and little landings. My lower back is way happier too. What's your go to for tight spots where a power stretcher won't fit?

Changed my mind about overstretching after a hallway disaster last Friday

I always stretched carpet super tight, thinking it gave the best finish. Last Friday I was doing a 40 foot hallway in a condo downtown and the carpet pulled loose from the tack strip near the door. Had to redo the whole run and it cost me 3 extra hours. Now I'm backing off a little on the stretch, what's your rule of thumb for tension?

Vent: That time in Phoenix I ruined a $3,000 wool carpet by not checking the seam tape expiry

The customer who told me I was "just a carpet guy" at a party in Chicago

I was at a BBQ in Naperville last summer and this guy in finance starts asking what I do. When I said I install carpets, he actually laughed and said "oh so you're just a carpet guy, not a real contractor." I was like buddy, I've been doing this 12 years and make more than you. He kept talking down to me all night about "real trades." Anyone else get treated like a second class worker just because we don't frame houses?

Crossed 5000 yards of carpet stretched this morning

I mean, I was just cleaning my knee kicker and the number hit me. That's a lot of tack strips and sore knuckles over the past decade. Anyone else have a random count that made you stop and think?

The time I tried a $20 knee kicker from a flea market versus my regular one

Picked up this old, rusty knee kicker at a swap meet in Fresno last year, thinking it might be a fun backup. Tried using it on a small bedroom job last week and it was a total joke, the teeth barely grabbed and the pad was shot. My regular one, which cost about ten times that, got the same stretch done in maybe half the time with way less effort. The difference was night and day, mostly in the grip and the weight of the head. Has anyone else ever tried a super cheap tool and had it completely fail on them?

I saw a carpet seam in a hotel lobby that looked like a river on a map

I was at the Grand Plaza Hotel in Springfield last week and the main lobby carpet has this wild, swirling pattern. The installers must have had a real time trying to match it up, because one seam near the front desk follows a dark blue line perfectly, making it look like a little stream. Has anyone else run into a pattern that just happened to line up with a seam in a funny way?

Just finished a job in a split-level house and the seam on the main stair landing was a real headache

I was working on a place over in the Westgate area last week, laying down a nice plush in the living room. Everything was going smooth until I got to the landing between the two sets of stairs. The carpet piece I cut was about an inch short on one side, leaving a nasty gap right in the main walkway. My heart just sank. I didn't have enough of the same roll left to re-cut it, and the homeowner was due back in a couple of hours. I ended up taking a scrap from a closet, carefully splicing in a patch with my seam iron, and blending the pile direction as best I could. It took me an extra 90 minutes of careful work, but you can barely see it now unless you know where to look. Has anyone else had to pull off a last-minute patch job like that on a high-traffic spot? What's your go-to method to make it disappear?

Hot take: a simple seam on a curved staircase turned into a two hour fight

I was putting down a 12 foot runner on a curved staircase in an old house. The carpet had a pattern and the client wanted the seam to be invisible on the main curve. I thought I could line it up and glue it down in about 30 minutes. The problem was the tight radius and the backing not wanting to stretch just right. I kept having to pull it up, re-trim, and re-glue to get the pattern to match. That one seam took me over two hours to get perfect. Anyone have a better method for patterned seams on tight curves?

The 1970s shag carpet I pulled up had a perfect rectangle of clean floor underneath where a rug sat for 30 years

The homeowner said her mom never moved that area rug. The difference between the stained, matted shag and the bright original floor was like night and day. Anyone else find weird time capsules under old carpet?