dianab68•2d agoMost Upvoted

Talking to an old carpet layer at a supply shop changed how I look at seams

I was grabbing some tack strip at Apex Carpet Supply last Tuesday and this old guy named Ray started chatting me up at the counter. He said he's been laying carpet since the 70s and he told me I was using too much seam tape on my glue-down jobs. He said I was overthinking it and just letting the adhesive do half the work for me. At first I thought he was just some grumpy old timer but then he showed me a roll he had in his truck and the finish was way flatter than what I get. He said the trick is to barely melt the tape and let the backing settle on its own instead of pressing it to death. It hit different because I've been wrestling with peaking seams for like 6 months now and maybe I'm just trying too hard. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a supply house drop some advice that actually fixed a nagging problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben4361d ago

Brings to mind that old saying about how the best fix is usually the one where you stop trying so hard. In my experience, half the battle in any trade is just getting out of your own way.

julia8431d ago

Man, I used to be totally opposite on this. I'd overthink every little thing, like bringing extra tools I didn't need and second guessing myself. Then I helped my uncle fix his fence last summer and he just said "put the board there and stop staring at it." That's when it clicked for me.