PSA: Check your tack strip staples before laying the carpet.

I was installing for a new builder in Phoenix last month and the tack strip they supplied had staples that were WAY too short. I didn't catch it until after I had the pad down and stretched the first row. Had to pull it all back up and redo it. The guy at the supply house told me they'd been getting a bad batch from a new supplier. Anyone else run into tack strip staple issues on new construction?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley_wells662d ago

Yeah, the "bad batch from a new supplier" part caught my eye. A buddy of mine does a lot of custom home work and he ran into something similar a few years back on a job out in Surprise. He told me he was halfway through a big living room before he noticed the staples were practically falling out of the tack strip when he pulled the carpet tight. He had to redo the whole room and ended up just buying his own roll of staples from a hardware store offsite to make sure it was right. Your mileage may vary, but he swears by checking a few staples right when he opens the box now.

cameron_webb2d ago

Three years back I was doing a kitchen remodel and noticed the box of screws the contractor left had two different sizes mixed in. Some were half inch, some were inch and a quarter. Nobody caught it until the cabinets started wobbling. It's gotten so common now I just bring my own fasteners to any job, even if the boss supplies everything. Like your buddy said, checking a few staples or screws right when you open the box takes ten seconds but saves you hours of rework. It's one of those small things people overlook because they assume the supply house got it right, but I've seen bad batches from big name places too, not just new suppliers.