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Appreciation post: a 30 year installer in Sacramento told me to drag my knuckles across every seam before I leave
I was on a job in Sacramento last Thursday, a 1200 sq ft rental turnover with cheap berber in three bedrooms, and this old guy named Ray who has been laying carpet for 30 years was working the other end of the hall. We got to talking on break and he said the thing that stuck with me. He goes, before you pack up, get on your knees and drag your knuckles across every seam in the house, because your fingers feel what your eyes miss after hour six. I kind of shrugged it off at the time but I did it anyway that afternoon. Found two spots where the seam tape had bubbled just a hair, nothing you would catch standing up, but you could feel it plain as day with your knuckles. I hit them with the iron again and saved myself a callback, and a callback on a rental means driving 40 minutes back to Sacramento on my own dime. Been doing it on every job since, takes maybe two minutes. Any of you got a dumb little habit like that from an old timer that you swear by now?
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the_lee7d ago
Ray is right and it's not just seams. I run the back of my hand along the baseboard after I tuck, same idea, my fingers catch a lip where the tack strip is pushing up that my eyes gloss right over. Got that from a guy in Fresno who also told me to kick the stretch in with my heel before I trim, and that one has bailed me out more times than I can count. The knuckle thing works because after six hours your brain just stops seeing what it expects to see, but your hands don't lie to you.
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