Was pulling carpet in a hotel lobby near Tulsa, about 20 yards from the door. The cast iron bracket on my Roberts 10-B just snapped clean in half. Anyone had luck welding these back together or should I just go buy a new head?
I bought a box of tack strips from a discount supplier online without checking the gauge first. They were too thin for the carpet I was installing in a living room in Phoenix, and the whole thing started pulling up after a week. Anybody else get burned by cheap hardware that seemed like a deal?
I had a job last week in Phoenix where the customer wanted this super thick cushion backed stuff installed. I've always been skeptical of it cause it's a pain to cut clean and seems to bubble up easy. But after wrestling with it for 3 hours and using a new blade every 15 minutes, I gotta admit the finished look was pretty solid. Has anyone else had good luck with that type of carpet or am I just missing something?
I spent 5 years doing stretch-in on patterned carpets because that's how my old boss taught me, then a customer pointed out a 2-inch shift on a repeat pattern and I realized I'd been fighting the material the whole time. Now I'm wondering if power-stretching is the real answer or if I just had bad technique - anyone else have a moment like this that made you switch methods?
He watched me fight with a knee kicker for 10 minutes then handed me a power stretcher and said 'you're not installing carpet you're wrestling it' and now I won't touch a job without one so has anyone else had that humbling moment where a tool you ignored turned out to be the whole answer?
He's been installing since the 80s and his warehouse still has the same worn-out carpet samples from back then. I noticed he still uses a knee kicker that's older than me, no power stretcher in sight. Any of you guys stick with the old tools even though the new ones are supposed to be faster?
I was laying carpet in a bedroom in an old house in Denver this morning and hit a spot where the subfloor had a massive dip near the closet. No amount of padding was gonna fix it without a proper stretch. I had to re-adjust my power stretcher three times and really put my back into it to pull the carpet tight across that low area. Finally got it smooth without any wrinkles or lumps. The homeowner watched me the whole time and said 'wow that looks way better than the last guy's work.' Feels good to get a win like that after a rough week. Has anyone else run into a weird subfloor issue that forced you to rethink your stretch pattern?
Last year I did a big living room job in a house out in the suburbs, thought it looked solid. The homeowner was this older guy who used to install carpet back in the 80s. He walked in, pointed at a seam near the doorway and said 'that's garbage, you're stretching too tight off the wall.' I was pissed at first but he showed me how I was pulling the carpet too hard from one side, which made the seam pucker. I started using a seam roller with more pressure and less stretching off the tack strip. Now I check every seam twice before I cut the backing. Has anyone else had a customer give advice that actually made you better at your job?
Bought a cheap one off Amazon thinking it'd save me money, but the wheel literally popped off while I was on a job in Denver last week. Has anyone else learned the hard way that you gotta spend real money on seam rollers?
Had a lady in Cherry Hill yell at me for back-rolling her bedroom carpet last Tuesday. She said it leaves permanent texture marks that show up under certain light. I thought she was crazy but I tried a power stretcher only on her dining room job. The seams were way tighter and the whole thing looked smoother. Has anyone else stopped back-rolling and just gone full power stretcher?
Last month I showed up to a house in Phoenix where the homeowner had moved all the furniture but left a huge bookshelf in the middle of the living room. I almost lost it, but the guy came out and said just cut around it because it's bolted to the floor. So I did a seam right where the shelf sits, and it literally disappeared under there. Then the carpet padding was already glued down perfectly straight, which never happens. Has anyone else had a job unexpectedly go from frustrating to flawless like that?
I see installers do this all the time at supply houses. They stretch the carpet tight and hook it straight onto the tack strip. That puts too much tension on one side and the carpet ripples after a week. You gotta leave a gap of about 1/4 inch between the tack strip and the wall, then use a knee kicker to stretch it evenly from the middle out. Learned this the hard way after a redo in a living room in Phoenix last summer. Has anyone else fixed their ripple problems this way?
Was working a job in a downtown office building last Wednesday and the painter on the floor above came down to borrow some tape. He mentioned he always uses rosin paper under his canvas tarps to catch the dust that sneaks through. Tried it on a 1200 square foot carpet job yesterday and it saved me a ton of cleanup time. Anyone else got weird crossover tips from other trades?
Bought a top of the line power stretcher last year thinking it would make my jobs faster. Turns out half the rooms I work in are too small or oddly shaped to even get the damn thing set up. I'm back to using my knee kicker for 80% of installs and that fancy stretcher just sits in my truck. Anyone else drop serious cash on a tool they thought was a game changer but ended up being a paperweight?
I ran the totals after finishing a job in Oakville last week. Turns out I've done over 1,000 rooms in 8 years. That's a lot of knee pads and seam tape. What really got me was the waste I never tracked before. Has anyone else added up their total footage and felt surprised by it?
I used to think seam rollers were totally optional, just extra weight in the truck. Then I worked with this guy named Frank on a commercial carpet job at a bank downtown, must have been 60 years old and been laying carpet since before I was born. He watched me run a seam with just my knee kicker and a heat iron, then showed me how the roller pushes the fibers down so the seam tape actually bonds flat instead of bubbling up. Two months later I had to redo a seam in a rental house because I skipped the roller again, and that's when it finally stuck in my head. Any of you guys ever get stubborn about a tool and then eat crow later?
The head snapped clean off the tube on the third pull against a seam, so I rigged it with a ratchet strap and a 2x4 to get through the last two rooms, has anyone else had to MacGyver a stretcher on site?
For like 2 years I only used the cheap seam tape from Home Depot because I thought the expensive stuff was just branding. Then I did a job for a client in Austin who supplied their own HF tape, and I figured why not try it. The seams laid down so flat and didn't peel even after I stretched the carpet tight. Now I'm wondering if I've been costing myself time with callbacks. Anyone else make the switch and see a real difference?
I pulled up a 2006 job last week in Denver and the old 8lb rebond pad was still solid, while the 6lb stuff I put in 2018 was already crumbling - has anyone else noticed how much thinner and softer the standard pad has gotten since the big box stores took over?
I dropped $400 on a new power stretcher last month for a big commercial job in Atlanta. My knees feel way better at the end of the day but I'm not sure it's faster than my old manual one. Anyone else find power stretchers worth the cash or just another gimmick?
I tried saving $15 on a roll of no-name seam tape from a discount supply store last spring. After 3 months the seams started peeling up on the hallway I installed for a customer in Portland. Had to rip out the whole run and replace it, losing about $200 in material and a whole Saturday. Anyone else get burned by cutting corners on supplies like this?
I always thought power stretching was enough for seams on Berber carpet. Then I tried a heavy seam roller on a job in Phoenix last month and the seam practically disappeared. Anyone else skip this step and regret it?
I was helping out at a supply house in Omaha last week and this kid comes in complaining his seams keep splitting. Old timer behind the counter just looks at his tool and says 'you got the pins set too short.' I realized I'd been setting mine the same way since I learned the trade in 2009. Made me wonder how many other habits we pick up from watching the wrong people.
I was at a supply shop in Portland yesterday and this guy was telling the clerk his 15 year old shag was fine, just dirty, and I wanted to ask how many times he's cleaned the backing off his vacuum roller but I just grabbed my glue and left, anyone else run into folks who think carpet lasts forever?