Watched a 20-year-old carpet come out and the floor prep made the difference

Did a tear-out and replacement last Tuesday in a house near Tacoma. The old carpet was shot, matted down in all the walkways, but the real shock was what was underneath. Padding had turned to dust and there were these gouges in the subfloor from a previous install where they used a power stretcher wrong. I spent about 4 hours sanding down high spots and filling low ones with patch. New carpet went in flat, no ripples, no soft spots. The homeowner kept saying how different it felt underfoot. That got me thinking, how much of the final job is actually just floor prep? I used to rush that part when I started out and always had callbacks. Anyone else find that the prep time is what separates a good install from a job you hear about later? What's your rule for when to patch vs. just stretch over it?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_murray1mo ago

Prep is probably 70% of the job, but I gotta push back on the whole "patch every low spot" mindset. Sometimes you're better off just fixing the big dips and letting the pad and carpet do the work, especially if the subfloor is plywood and not concrete. You spent 4 hours on prep, but I've had jobs where a 1/4 inch dip just needed a thicker pad in that zone and it came out perfect, no patch needed. My rule is patch anything over 1/8 inch, sand anything that'll telegraph through, but if it's a subtle hump, the carpet will hide it if your stretch is right. Over-prepping can actually cause more issues if your patch doesn't dry fully or you sand too much, then you're chasing a level that doesn't matter.

tessa_murray1mo ago

Whoa, I totally get that! I did a job last year where the floor had this annoying bump right in the middle of the room. I was ready to bust out the sander and level everything, but my buddy who was helping said to just keep the carpet stretch tight and see what happens. It honestly looked great once we were done, you couldn't even tell. Since then I've been way more relaxed about the small stuff and I only go nuts with the patch if it's real bad. Saves so much time and headache, for real.