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?

4 comments

4 Comments

sam1729d ago

Yeah, I dunno if one bad hallway means the whole approach is broken.

the_sam22d ago

The "poor tack strip placement" part of the previous reply really hits it. I've had this happen twice over the years, and each time it was the same issue - the tack strip wasn't driven in all the way or there was a gap at the seam. If you're pulling that hard and it still lets go, the strip itself is the weak link, not your stretching technique. Take a closer look at where it pulled loose. I bet you'll find a section of strip that wasn't nailed flush to the subfloor or maybe a board splice right underneath it. Backing off the tension might save you time today, but you'll be back in six months fixing a wrinkled hallway. Fix the strip, keep the stretch.

wrenh6522d ago

You said "poor tack strip placement," that happened to me once with a stubborn dog on my table.

the_sam29d ago

Overstretching isn't the real problem here. That carpet pulled loose because of poor tack strip placement or a weak join, not because you stretched it too hard. A loose stretch is just going to ripple and wrinkle in a month or two, especially down a long hall where people walk every day. You fix the tack strip, you fix the pull. Backing off tension is just asking for callbacks. Maybe try a power stretcher with a shorter throw if you're worried about ripping, but don't go soft on the stretch itself.