That nylon carpet seam I tried a new method on and it actually held

I had a job in a big living room in Columbus last month where I needed to seam two pieces of nylon broadloom. My old way of just using tape and a seaming iron would always leave a tiny gap after a few weeks. On a whim I tried that tip from the old-timer at the supply house, using a heat gun on the edges before ironing them together. It's been four weeks and that seam is still invisible and flat, no gap at all. Has anyone else tried pre-warming the edges like that or is that just overkill?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan90324d ago

...and I think that's actually the bigger lesson here, isn't it? Like with my cars too, I've noticed that taking an extra minute upfront saves me from having to redo things later. @kelly_craig, that wine stain is a whole different animal though, I've had decent luck with club soda and blotting. But yeah, the pre-warming thing sounds like it's part of that same idea - a little extra prep work now keeps the seam from shifting later. I've been doing something similar with wood floor transitions for years now, heating up the subfloor a bit before nailing down the T-mold. It's all about giving the materials a chance to settle together instead of fighting each other later.

mila_brown1011d ago

Probably the biggest tip with wine stains on carpet is to hit it with cold water, not hot. I learned that the hard way on a beige rug. @jordan903, that club soda trick is solid, it's bubbled out a few red wine marks for me. The heat gun thing is risky on carpet fibers though, they'll melt before you know it if you're not careful. I'd stick with cold water and blot until it stops transferring, then hit it with a little dish soap if needed.

kelly_craig24d ago

Wonder if that heat gun trick would work on the wine stain I just found on my own carpet...