Loading…
11
My old boss said to always power stretch Berber, and I finally get why after 14 years
Back in 2010 I was helping my uncle's crew on a new build in Rochester and the lead guy there, a guy named Dale with 30 years in, said to always power stretch Berber even if it feels tight by hand and the homeowner is standing right there watching you. I rolled my eyes and figured he just liked his tools, so for years I mostly hand stretched the small rooms to save setup time. Last month I did a 12 by 15 Berber in a rental and it bubbled along the seam within 3 weeks, and the landlord made me pull the whole thing back up. Dale was right, and I can still hear him saying it. How do you all handle Berber in small rooms, do you still drag out the stretcher every time or is there a shortcut I'm missing?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
diana2027d ago
Watched my buddy skip the power stretch on a small Berber and it rippled in a month.
3
thomasshah27d ago
That "rippled in a month" part is doing a lot of work here. I've seen plenty of Berbers installed with a good power stretch and still get waves because the room had crazy humidity swings or the pad was junk. Stretching helps, no doubt, but it's not some magic fix that saves you from bad prep. Half the ripple jobs I've pulled up had nothing to do with the stretch at all, it was tack strips shot too far apart or a subfloor that wasn't flat. Your buddy might've done the stretch right and still got burned by something else.
7