The new library in Cedar Rapids has me rethinking carpet seams in open spaces

I was in Cedar Rapids last week for a family thing and checked out their new downtown library. The main reading room is huge, maybe 80 feet long, and they used a single, continuous piece of broadloom. No seam down the middle. I know the common move is to seam big rooms for easier handling and less waste, but seeing it done this way was a game changer. The flow of the pattern is perfect and there's zero chance of a peaking issue down the road. It must have been a beast to get that roll in and stretched, but the result is so clean it makes standard seamed jobs look cheap. It got me wondering if we're too quick to cut and seam just because it's the normal way. Has anyone else pulled off a no-seam install in a space that big, and what was your method for the stretch?

3 comments

3 Comments

fox.matthew23d ago

Wow, that's a serious roll of carpet. I have to ask, do you know if they had to remove windows or even a wall to get that single piece in there? I've only seen a seamless install that big once, and the crew had to use a crane to lift the roll through a second story opening they made. The stretch must have been a huge job too, needing a ton of power stretchers working in sync.

annawebb13d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, I read they sometimes cut the roll in half and seam it.

andrew_rodriguez23d ago

I mean, did they have to take out a whole window frame or was there already a big enough opening? Idk how else you'd move something that size.