Pro Installer ?

[C.J.]

I’ve seen a few guys with the double stinger. I never got one. If the single spike didn’t work then I broke out the poles. I’ve had my spike break on me a few times. If I didn’t have a spare then I had to suck it up for a day and break out the poles. There were more than a few times when the spike just sunk into the subfloor and the head didn’t move at all. Nasty ass swole up particle board in a **** apartment? Masonite underlayment? Then there were numerous times that it just wasn’t the right choice so you broke out the poles.

It’s interesting to me the varying thoughts on the use of a stinger. It was common when I started out. Everyone had one on their van even if they didn’t use it all the time. The higher end shops would have a ‘no stinger’ policy for their residential but the low end and new construction work was a free for all. That’s just how it was.

 

[highup]

There’s a time and a place for it. Quite honestly with the way labor rates have gone backwards with carpet I’m surprised everyone doesn’t have one on their van for those occasions. Now if you’re one of those guys who is getting premium labor rates and doesn’t believe in stingers, more power to ya.

About a year I go one of the local shops started paying $6 a yard. That's still not enough, but probably a buck and a half a yard more than any other shop in town. Everyone is stuck in the 1980s.
I have no doubts that a stinger can be used successfully. A large percentage of carpet installers do pretty much hack work and they couldn't install carpet correctly with tubes either. I've simply seen damage from The stingers including the carpet and it's just not my cup of tea. I've always carried around a section of 2x4 or even 4x4s to spam sliding glass doors, fireplaces, and other problem areas.

 

[C.J.]

About a year I go one of the local shops started paying $6 a yard. That's still not enough, but probably a buck and a half a yard more than any other shop in town. Everyone is stuck in the 1980s.
I have no doubts that a stinger can be used successfully. A large percentage of carpet installers do pretty much hack work and they couldn't install carpet correctly with tubes either. I've simply seen damage from The stingers including the carpet and it's just not my cup of tea. I've always carried around a section of 2x4 or even 4x4s to spam sliding glass doors, fireplaces, and other problem areas.

You do live on the coast and pretty far down. I hated beach work because whatever shops in town paid for a trip charge went right out the exhaust pipe. Same thing with working on Mt. Hood. I don’t need to go out of town to eat ****, I can eat **** right here at 77th & Madison.

 

[Darren Ramey]

I went through a stinger phase. You can get carpet fairly tight with one but there is a fine line between getting it tight enough and driving it so deep in to the floor that it takes more time to get it out than it would have just to use poles. As subfloors got shittier and the carpet I install kept getting more expensive, I gave it up. I haven’t had one in years. If I had freeze in a trailer to do I might pick up another but these days I do 95% wovens and high end funkiness.

 

[highup]

I went through a stinger phase. You can get carpet fairly tight with one but there is a fine line between getting it tight enough and driving it so deep in to the floor that it takes more time to get it out than it would have just to use poles. As subfloors got shittier and the carpet I install kept getting more expensive, I gave it up. I haven’t had one in years. If I had freeze in a trailer to do I might pick up another but these days I do 95% wovens and high end funkiness.

Mainly Wovens and funkiness?
How far will you travel for some work? I have a set of stairs for you to do today.

 

[Darren Ramey]

Mainly Wovens and funkiness?
How far will you travel for some work? I have a set of stairs for you to do today.

Last year I did jobs in Delray Beach Florida, Charleston South Carolina, Roanoke and Richmond Virginia and some others I can’t remember. Even in NC, I do more out-of-town stuff than I do in town these days. That said, I’m booked through at least the end of June maybe further. Every time I knock a job off my to do list, I add two more.

I was out of town on vacation last week and just trying to get my schedule sorted today, makes me want to take another one.

 

[Floorist]

Last year I did jobs in Delray Beach Florida, Charleston South Carolina, Roanoke and Richmond Virginia and some others I can’t remember. Even in NC, I do more out-of-town stuff than I do in town these days. That said, I’m booked through at least the end of June maybe further. Every time I knock a job off my to do list, I add two more.

I was out of town on vacation last week and just trying to get my schedule sorted today, makes me want to take another one.

What is a "vacation"? Is that even legal for the self-employed?

 

[Darren Ramey]

What is a "vacation"? Is that even legal for the self-employed?

I say vacation but I did stop in Charleston on the way home from Orlando and knocked out 150 yards of seagrass.

 

[C.J.]

What is a "vacation"? Is that even legal for the self-employed?

For us 1099ers it’s just called time off I love me some time off.

 

[Kyle Nelson]

The carpet pick, stinger, spike is the most contentious tool in the carpet world. I have one, use it when it makes life easier like weird angles or restretches where I don’t want to move a million lbs of furniture. Call me a hack, fine with me. It’s a tool that is not right for every application but can really come in handy at times. Oh and just for good measure, carpet sucks.

 

[highup]

Last year I did jobs in Delray Beach Florida, Charleston South Carolina, Roanoke and Richmond Virginia and some others I can’t remember. Even in NC, I do more out-of-town stuff than I do in town these days. That said, I’m booked through at least the end of June maybe further. Every time I knock a job off my to do list, I add two more.

I was out of town on vacation last week and just trying to get my schedule sorted today, makes me want to take another one.

That's fantastic. You can't get anything installed here right away that's for sure. Electricians plumbers floor layers...... Everyone here has been busy for the last year and a half.
I got my woven stairs started this afternoon. I'm cutting them one at a time because of the stair construction. from the back of the tread to the front of the tread and down to the riser on some stairs jumps over an eighth of an inch then goes back to the original dimension.
I've got it figured out how I'm beginning each step so tomorrow I hope to get it completed. 10 steps to go. Thank the Lord for electric staplers.

 

[Don Monfils]

Kyle , that’s #carpetsucks