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Default Carpet question

Hi all,

Had some carpet installed today, including 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and a
set of stairs.

Should I have seams on my stairs and in my rooms?

The three rooms were all done with the same carpet. None of the rooms
exceed 12' width, with lengths of 16', 13', and 10'. The 16' turned
out well, but I quickly discovered that the other two (smaller) rooms
were laid using 'strips' of carpet. To me, this seems like a no-no in
the carpet world unless you've got a room that is too big. Am I
mistaken? I was under the impression that the rooms would be done with
'full' sheets of carpet. Not only that, but it looks like someone
mowed my carpet.

On the stairs, there are a couple of spots where the carpet is loose.
There is also one tread with a visible seam on it. This seems totally
wrong to me...it's in the middle of the tread! Why not cut the carpet
and place the seam where the riser/tread meet, or even below the
bullnosing?

Finally, these guys didn't put down any cardboard, sheets, etc. to
protect my existing floors (it was a wet day outside, and they were
tracking it in). They didn't bother to clean up loose fibers after the
fact.

Were these guys bad installers or is this par for the course?

Cheers,
Dave

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Default Carpet question

" wrote in
oups.com:

Hi all,

Had some carpet installed today, including 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and a
set of stairs.

Should I have seams on my stairs and in my rooms?

The three rooms were all done with the same carpet. None of the rooms
exceed 12' width, with lengths of 16', 13', and 10'. The 16' turned
out well, but I quickly discovered that the other two (smaller) rooms
were laid using 'strips' of carpet. To me, this seems like a no-no in
the carpet world unless you've got a room that is too big. Am I
mistaken? I was under the impression that the rooms would be done with
'full' sheets of carpet. Not only that, but it looks like someone
mowed my carpet.


What does your contract say they will do? They usually outline things. If
it says nothing about piecing OR whole sheets then I would think you are
SOL.


On the stairs, there are a couple of spots where the carpet is loose.
There is also one tread with a visible seam on it. This seems totally
wrong to me...it's in the middle of the tread! Why not cut the carpet
and place the seam where the riser/tread meet, or even below the
bullnosing?


Anything that is lose warrants a callback.

As far as seams, contracts usually say seams are not invisible. This
keeps PITAs from complaining when they look with a magnifying glass (not
saying this is what you did). The seams were invisable on the last job I
had done and the contract did say seams are not invisible. It was a HD
install.


Finally, these guys didn't put down any cardboard, sheets, etc. to
protect my existing floors (it was a wet day outside, and they were
tracking it in). They didn't bother to clean up loose fibers after the
fact.


The HD install referred to above, they even vacuumed the whole rug to get
the lose fibers out and the pile laying nice.


Were these guys bad installers or is this par for the course?


Based on my only one experience with installs, obviously they do not
compare well.

That's why I chose to have HD do the install. If something was sour I
could beat up on them. If they sub-k some bad installer, that is their
problem. I could always go there and have someone to bark at. Tell them
to pull up purchase history records for some leverage. Not have to settle
for excuses that sub-k won't return calls. That is their problem.

I think their installers have incentive to stay on the HD call list. THe
lemons get booted. THen again, I've read not so good stories about HD
subs too on here.


Cheers,
Dave




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Default Carpet question

wrote:

Had some carpet installed today, including 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and a
set of stairs.

Should I have seams on my stairs and in my rooms?

The three rooms were all done with the same carpet. None of the rooms
exceed 12' width, with lengths of 16', 13', and 10'. The 16' turned
out well, but I quickly discovered that the other two (smaller) rooms
were laid using 'strips' of carpet. To me, this seems like a no-no in
the carpet world unless you've got a room that is too big. Am I
mistaken? I was under the impression that the rooms would be done with
'full' sheets of carpet. Not only that, but it looks like someone
mowed my carpet.


If you mean that it looks like the grain of the carpet runs in a
different direction, well, that's a big problem. Carpet has a grain
and any adjoining pieces must have the grain running in the same
direction. It'd be a totally newbie mistake for a carpet installer to
make, and it seems kind of unlikely. Don't accept the installation, if
that's actually what you have.

Seaming carpet in the middle of a room is much less of a problem than
seaming on a stair tread, but I'd still prefer not to see any seams if
it wasn't a necessity. Since your rooms are all easily done without
seams, the only thing that would cause someone to go to the extra
effort would be to save on carpet. Then the question becomes, was the
installer trying to save you money on the carpet cost, or make himself
more money?

On the stairs, there are a couple of spots where the carpet is loose.
There is also one tread with a visible seam on it. This seems totally
wrong to me...it's in the middle of the tread! Why not cut the carpet
and place the seam where the riser/tread meet, or even below the
bullnosing?


Nothing should be loose. The carpet will never be tighter than the day
it's put down.

There should never be seams on a tread for a new installation. It will
obviously take a lot more traffic and the odds of the seam showing up
over time is much higher. Again, check the grain direction on the
adjoining pieces.

Finally, these guys didn't put down any cardboard, sheets, etc. to
protect my existing floors (it was a wet day outside, and they were
tracking it in). They didn't bother to clean up loose fibers after the
fact.


Some people will put down drop cloths for a carpet installation, but
not too many. If it's a wet day, I put out some additional throw rugs
at the door and a runner if necessary. Most installers I've had
contact with make a quick clean up - it's usually a fairly neat
procedure. If there's a fair mess and there's no indication that
they'll be picking up after themselves, I mention it.

Were these guys bad installers or is this par for the course?


It's a big course. There's no reason to settle for shoddy work if that
is what it is. Where did you find the installer? What do other people
say about their work?

R

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Default Carpet question

you should not have visable seams on your stairs, no matter what they
did, the stair seams should be in the bottom or top edge of the
kickplate, not in a noticable area. seams in the rooms are possible
depending on how the carpet had to be cut for fit, unless you specified
that you wanted no seam and were willing to pay for the extra linear
footage.

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wrote:
Hi all,

Had some carpet installed today, including 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and a
set of stairs.

Should I have seams on my stairs and in my rooms?

The three rooms were all done with the same carpet. None of the rooms
exceed 12' width, with lengths of 16', 13', and 10'. The 16' turned
out well, but I quickly discovered that the other two (smaller) rooms
were laid using 'strips' of carpet. To me, this seems like a no-no in
the carpet world unless you've got a room that is too big. Am I
mistaken? I was under the impression that the rooms would be done with
'full' sheets of carpet. Not only that, but it looks like someone
mowed my carpet.

On the stairs, there are a couple of spots where the carpet is loose.
There is also one tread with a visible seam on it. This seems totally
wrong to me...it's in the middle of the tread! Why not cut the carpet
and place the seam where the riser/tread meet, or even below the
bullnosing?

Finally, these guys didn't put down any cardboard, sheets, etc. to
protect my existing floors (it was a wet day outside, and they were
tracking it in). They didn't bother to clean up loose fibers after the
fact.

Were these guys bad installers or is this par for the course?

Cheers,
Dave


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Default Carpet question (update)

There should never be seams on a tread for a new installation. It will
obviously take a lot more traffic and the odds of the seam showing up
over time is much higher. Again, check the grain direction on the
adjoining pieces.


Another carpet installer came out this morning. He fixed up the minor
issues (two places where carpet wasn't firmly attached), and was much
more communicative than the last pair.

The installer indicated that there weren't any seams (except for the
necessary ones). He said that the lines were a function of how the
carpet was stored, and would disappear after a few days with vacuuming.
For the stair tread, he indicated that if the 'seam' did not
disappear, then they would fix it. Presumably, this would require
minimal work (and carpet).

Me being a bit skeptical, he pulled up some of the bedroom carpet and
sure enough, there was no seam. Given the claim that these lines will
disappear after a few days, I'm satisfied for now.

FWIW, there was no contract other than the cost of the job (labour +
materials). So yes, I'm probably SOL if the lines don't disappear. Of
course, I haven't actually paid the full amount yet either...

If there's a fair mess and there's no indication that
they'll be picking up after themselves, I mention it.


This (mess) didn't actually bother me much, it's just something that I
think a professional would do.



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Posts: 9
Default Carpet question (update)

If the room does not exceed the carpet width then there should be no
seams except at maybe a closet. It is normal to place a seam from one
carpeted room to the next usually under the door in the middle. It is
not normal to see a seam in a new installation. Installers don't put
cardboard under the carpet to protect the floor. The carpet pading does
that well and I suggest using a very good padding. It is not uncommon
after a year or so in some installations to have to go back and
restretch the carpet---very easily done with the right tool. My last
piece of advice is to save a scrap piece of your carpet in case you ever
damage a spot. Using a carpet cookie-cutter (round) device you can
replace a spot easily. Also, all professional carpet installers are
taught to leave the carpet onsite for a few days before installing so it
will acclimate to the new environment which might have prevented the
areas you saw that you thought were seams. Hope this helps.

J




wrote:

There should never be seams on a tread for a new installation. It will
obviously take a lot more traffic and the odds of the seam showing up
over time is much higher. Again, check the grain direction on the
adjoining pieces.



Another carpet installer came out this morning. He fixed up the minor
issues (two places where carpet wasn't firmly attached), and was much
more communicative than the last pair.

The installer indicated that there weren't any seams (except for the
necessary ones). He said that the lines were a function of how the
carpet was stored, and would disappear after a few days with vacuuming.
For the stair tread, he indicated that if the 'seam' did not
disappear, then they would fix it. Presumably, this would require
minimal work (and carpet).

Me being a bit skeptical, he pulled up some of the bedroom carpet and
sure enough, there was no seam. Given the claim that these lines will
disappear after a few days, I'm satisfied for now.

FWIW, there was no contract other than the cost of the job (labour +
materials). So yes, I'm probably SOL if the lines don't disappear. Of
course, I haven't actually paid the full amount yet either...


If there's a fair mess and there's no indication that
they'll be picking up after themselves, I mention it.



This (mess) didn't actually bother me much, it's just something that I
think a professional would do.

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