Just realized the tack strip gap I was taught is costing me callbacks

I was taught to leave a half inch gap between the tack strip and the wall, and I ran with that for 4 years without thinking much about it. Last week I did a 12 by 15 room in a house near Grand Rapids with really bad baseboard heat, and I tried butting the strip closer, maybe a quarter inch off the wall. I got zero buckling, the carpet tucked cleaner on the stair nose, and the customer even said it looked tighter than her last install. I still don't know if it was the gap change or just that this carpet had a stiffer backing, so I'm not saying the old way is bad. What gap do you all run on a stretch-in over pad, and has anyone else switched it up and seen a real difference?

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blake82920h ago

I ran a half inch for years too and switched to a quarter inch about two years back after a buddy told me the same thing. The tighter gap keeps the carpet from pulling off the strip when the room gets hot, and I noticed way less buckling on berbers with stiff backs. That said, I still go wider if the drywall is wavy or the base is thin, cause you dont want the strip poking past the sheetrock. Try a quarter inch on your next few jobs and see if the callbacks stay away, that was the real test for me.

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