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Gluing down carpet vs. stretching it - which one holds up better long term?
Had a guy yesterday tell me he's only done glue-down for 15 years and swears stretch-in is outdated for residential. Made me think about all the callbacks I've had on stretched jobs versus glued ones - what's your experience with seam peels or ripples after 3 years?
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bettys5119d ago
Oh man, that "stretch-in is outdated" thing really gets me. I've been doing this for over 20 years and I've had WAY more callbacks on glue-down jobs than stretched ones. Seam peels and ripples happen way more on glued carpet after a few years because the glue dries out and gets brittle, so any little shift in the subfloor makes the seams pop. Stretched carpet, if you do it right with a quality power stretcher and good tack strips, will last way longer without those wrinkles. I've seen 10 year old stretched jobs still looking flat, but glued ones start showing issues in 3 years easy. The only time I'd pick glue-down is for basements or concrete slabs where moisture is a problem. Otherwise, stretching is the way to go.
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the_evan19d ago
A buddy of mine had glue-down carpet put in his living room about four years ago. He went with the glue because the installer talked him into it, said it was the modern way. Last summer I was over there helping him move a couch and noticed the seams near the doorway were starting to curl up at the edges. He had to put a throw rug over it to keep anyone from tripping. Meanwhile my sister has stretch-in carpet in her hallway that's been down since 2016 and it still looks like the day it was installed, no ripples, no peeling. That glue job cost him more in the long run because he's already talking about replacing it.
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