That job in Phoenix where the pad melted under the carpet taught me a lesson

I was working a big house last summer in Phoenix. Got the carpet down fine, looked great. Two days later the homeowner calls me saying the carpet is bubbling up. I go back and the pad had literally melted in one spot. Turns out they had a south facing window with no blinds and the sun cooked it through the glass. Now I always ask about direct sunlight before I install. Anyone else run into heat damage on a job?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorcarr27d ago

Yeah I had a similar thing happen in Tucson a couple years ago. Was laying glue down carpet in this condo with big west facing slider doors. Customer didn't tell me they were gone all day and that side of the room turned into an oven. Came back a week later and the glue had softened and the carpet was rippling like crazy near the door. Now I always bring a cheap laser thermometer and check the floor temp before I start. If it's over 100 degrees on the subfloor I tell them we need blinds or a film on the glass first. Saved me a callback more than once.

sean_foster5227d agoTop Commenter

Exactly taylorcarr, I did a glue down job in Phoenix once where the garage floor was like 130 degrees and the adhesive never set right. Had to rip it all out and start over with a different glue.