Stretched or Stapled?

Last week Christian and I wrote about the difference between the Waterfall and French Tuck methods of carpet installation. We received some great feedback from a carpet installer, who had his own perspective on the whole dilemma:

Here's Bruce Morris of Morris Carpet Service:
"Read your article about carpet on stairs, French Wrap or Waterfall. As an installer for 30 years and someone who sells carpeting I often confront the question of French Wrap or waterfall.

The two questions that first must be answered is 1. how well will the carpet take a staple? French wrap must be stapled at the base of the riser and under the nose of the step, if the step looks "crisp" but the staples leave a mark will that make a difference to the homeowner who looks at it everyday? Secondly just because its French wrapped doesn't mean the step won't get a bubble in it.

I have seen two recent installs where the customer might have wanted the stairs restretched but because the carpet was Frenched it could not be pulled off of the stairs easily without damage to the carpet, so it was left alone. It's always easier to remove a waterfall install and restretch than french wrap. Lastly if the stairs are put over the correct pad and installed correctly bubbles should not occur.
- Bruce Morris/Morris Carpet Service

We really appreciate it when we get great feedback like this. I think it adds to the conversation as a whole.

Something Bruce said in his comments is also very true, and bears a bit of discussion: His last point was that if the correct pad is used underneath the carpet, then a lot of these issues can be avoided in the future.

Oftentimes, it's difficult to pay a premium for something like a pad, because who is ever going to see it? However, the pad is there for very specific reasons, not just to bump up the price of the overall sale. Investing in the appropriate support will make your carpet last much longer - this saves you money and keeps trash out of our landfills. A win-win.