Spent 6 hours wrestling with a single stubborn tack strip seam yesterday

That seam between two rooms where the tack strips meet was fighting me all day. I kept thinking I had it level but every time I put a piece of carpet down it would buckle. Turns out the subfloor had a slight dip right there. Ended up shimming the whole strip up about 1/8 inch. Has anyone else run into a floor that looks flat but isn't?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_murray823d ago

Man idk, I used to be the guy who'd just throw tack strips down and hope for the best. But after a job last year where I had a similar issue in a doorway - carpet kept popping up no matter what - I learned my lesson. Now I actually run a straightedge across the floor first, it's wild how often that dip sneaks up on you. That 1/8 inch shim trick is solid, I've started keeping a pack of those thin shims in my van just for this kind of thing.

hollyramirez23d ago

You ever try using a level across the whole doorway before you lay the tack strip? I learned that one the hard way too. Even a tiny dip will mess up the whole job if you don't catch it first. The straightedge trick saves so much time and headache. Just gotta commit to checking before you start.