Rant: That one seam that took me 6 hours to get right

I was doing a bedroom in a house near Portland, 12 foot wide room, and the seam kept rippling no matter what I stretched. Tried three different seam rollers and finally just had to re-cut both pieces and start fresh. Has anyone else had a seam fight them that bad for no reason?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_walker762mo ago

Right, so @caleb_ross12, the subfloor hump thing is real, but it's usually not the pad that hides it. You have to run a straightedge across the subfloor before you even lay the pad, or you're just guessing. Pulling up the whole job to fix a hump is a nightmare, but it beats fighting a wavy seam for six hours. Sometimes the glue is too dry by the time you get to the seam too, so that doesn't help. The rollers you tried might have been fine, it's just the floor underneath playing tricks on you.

caleb_ross122mo ago

Man oh man, that takes me back. My buddy Dave spent a whole day on a seam in a bonus room once. He tried everything, even called his old boss for advice, and it turned out the subfloor had a slight hump he hadn't noticed under the pad. Had to pull the whole thing up, shave a bit off the subfloor, and then the seam laid flat like nothing ever happened.

riley_taylor1mo ago

Wait, wait. He had to PULL THE WHOLE THING UP? The whole floor? For a tiny hump? No way. I've fought seams before but I've never had to do that. I would have just cut the seam and patched it in with a new piece, honestly. I don't know if I've got the patience to pull up an entire room of carpet just because the subfloor has a small bump. That sounds like something you only do if you're out of options and ready to burn the house down. Your buddy Dave must have some serious dedication, or he's a glutton for punishment. I'd be chucking tools across the room after hour three.