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Debate: Pattern matching vs. just winging it on seams - what's your move?
I was talking to a guy at the supply shop last Tuesday who swears you should always match patterns no matter what, even if it costs you extra padding and time. But then I ran into another installer who said he purposely offsets seams by 2 inches to save waste and calls it a design choice. I've been doing this 5 years now and I lean toward matching because clients always point out a misaligned seam in a hallway. But on a bedroom job last month, I had a pattern repeat of 18 inches and matching ate up an extra 40 square feet of carpet. That's about $120 in material gone. So which side do you fall on? Do you take the hit on waste for perfect pattern alignment, or do you adjust your layout to save money and hope nobody notices?
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rowanr8810d ago
Yeah @waderamirez I learned that lesson the hard way too, client's mom pulled out a tape measure on me.
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white.keith11d ago
Man I had a living room last year where the pattern repeat was 24 inches and I told myself "just wing it, nobody will stare at the floor." Then the homeowner walked in with her mom who apparently used to inspect carpets for NASA or something because she spotted the offset from the doorway and gave me that look. Cost me a whole redo plus extra padding I had to eat. Now I just match patterns and cry about the waste later, at least I sleep better knowing I won't get called back for a seam inspection from a client with laser eyes lmao.
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waderamirez10d ago
24 inch repeats are the devil's work, why not just pattern-match with a laser level from the get-go?
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