Old stretch job from 2003 still looked tight last month, new stuff barely makes a year

Vera Wells · 2026-09-11T04:50:05.115414+00:00

I pulled up a carpet in a rental over on Franklin Street last month that I installed back in 2003, and the backing was still soft and the seams had not budged. The lady who owns the place told me it had been through three sets of tenants and two dogs. Back then we were setting power stretchers by hand and spending real time on the knee kicker, and I think that made all the difference. Now everything is direct glue down and guys are running a steam roller over the seams and calling it done by noon. Half the calls I get these days are for restretches on jobs that are 18 months old. The tack strip they sell now is thinner too, I have been bending it with my thumb on some of these batches. I miss when the reps would come by and actually check the stretch tension with you. Anyone else notice new carpet wrinkling way faster than the old stuff, or is it just me getting pickier?

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Old stretch job from 2003 still looked tight last month, new stuff barely makes a year | Carpet Installers - Guest Forum