Shoutout to the guy who told me to stop using cheap tack strips on jobs

Man I gotta warn you guys about this one. I was going back and forth between buying the budget tack strips at the big box store or spending a bit more on the good ones from the supply house. I went cheap to save like $40 on a 12x15 room in Denver last month. Big mistake lol. The pins kept bending when I was stretching the carpet and two strips just split apart on me. Had to rip up half the install and redo it with the better stuff. Lesson learned the hard way. Anyone else ever screw themselves over trying to save a few bucks on materials?

3 comments

3 Comments

rivera.hannah20d ago

My buddy in Arvada used the cheap strips on a basement job and the carpet popped up three days later.

rosepark20d ago

Did he use the right kind of glue for concrete? The cheap strips usually come with a peel-and-stick backing that won't hold on a basement floor, especially if there's any moisture. You gotta use a separate carpet adhesive or go with the tackless strips that you nail down. Three days pop-up sounds like he skipped the primer too.

the_faith20d ago

I mean, three days seems fast but concrete basements in Arvada are usually dry enough that cheap strips hold fine for a while, right? Feels like it could just be a bad batch or a weird spot rather than a whole glue conspiracy.