Stop stretching carpet the wrong way near doorways - I keep seeing this

I drove out to a job last week in Greenville and the homeowner pointed out ripples by their sliding door. I took one look and knew the previous guy stretched it perpendicular to the door track instead of parallel. That's the problem right there. When you stretch across the door line, the carpet buckles every time someone slides the door open because the tension fights the track movement. I learned this the hard way about 5 years ago on a rush job where I had to rip out a whole hallway and redo it. Now I always run the power stretcher parallel to any sliding or french door frame so the fibers flow with the opening. Has anyone else had to fix a mess like this from a new installer who didn't know the trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_murray261mo ago

Oh man, you just described the last carpet job my cousin paid for. He hired this young crew that was all YouTube-certified, and they laid a beautiful beige berber right up to his patio door. Looked perfect until the first time someone slid it open and the carpet just accordioned up like a cheap window blind. I told him to call them back and explain the stretch direction, but they argued it was a "settling issue." Settling issue my foot. I ended up loaning him my power stretcher and showing him the ropes over a six-pack. He said he learned more from that Saturday afternoon than from the whole install.

blake_bell291mo ago

Learned that lesson myself on a rush job once. Cost me a whole Saturday and a case of beer.