Old timer in Pittsburgh told me to always cut the pad an inch short at the walls

I ignored him for years thinking it was extra work, but after fighting with ripples on three jobs last month I tried it and the carpet lays flat every time now. Anybody else get that tip from a veteran and wish they'd listened sooner?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_anderson1mo ago

Guess I'll add that to the list of things I should've learned the first time.

sage3081mo ago

Hate to be the one to say it but leaving that gap is a bad idea. You're basically asking for the carpet to pull away from the wall over time with foot traffic and vacuuming. I've seen it happen on jobs where the installer trimmed it short - looks fine for a month then starts creeping back. The whole point of stretching it tight is to lock it into the tack strip, and if you've got a whole inch of slack in there you're losing that grip. Ripples usually come from not stretching it right in the first place or using cheap padding, not from cutting the edges a little snug. I'd rather spend the extra few minutes fixing a ripple than have to re-stretch a whole room six months later because the carpet shifted.

tara6421mo agoTop Commenter

Amy is right to point this out, but I gotta gently push back on one thing. That inch of slack isn't just about grip, it's also about what happens when the carpet gets wet or humid. I've had a room where a pipe dripped under the baseboard and the carpet edge wicked up moisture and started curling because there was no extra material to tuck back. With a clean gap, you can trim off the wet part and re stretch it without ordering new carpet. @amy_anderson, that's why some installers leave a little extra near walls near bathrooms or kitchens, not just for foot traffic. It's a trade off, but I've had more luck fixing ripples with a knee kicker than dealing with water damage on a tight cut.