Unpopular opinion: I saw a new hotel in Denver using glue-down for all their hallways and I think it's a bad call.
I was doing a repair at the new Summit Suites downtown last week and noticed they glued down a high-end wool blend in every corridor. The manager said they chose it for a 'solid feel' and thought it would last longer than stretch-in. But after 6 months, I already saw three spots where the seams were starting to lift from the heavy cart traffic. In my view, a good stretch-in with a power stretcher handles that rolling weight way better and lets you fix a damaged section without tearing up the whole run. What's your take on glue-down in high-traffic commercial spaces?
Remember that big office refit my buddy worked on? They glued down a fancy patterned carpet in the main walkway. Looked amazing for about four months. Then the daily coffee cart and mail trolley started their work. They ended up with a visible depression track along the route and a seam that split open like a zipper. The fix was a huge mess because they had to cut out a whole tile section and try to blend in a new piece.
Man, that reminds me of my old apartment. Landlord glued cheap carpet right over the concrete slab. Every footstep echoed like a drum, and you could feel every single seam through your socks. Worst part of that whole place.
Bring up the moisture issue nobody's talking about too. That concrete slab underneath always has some vapor drive, and glue-down traps it underneath the carpet instead of letting it breathe through the pad like a stretch-in does. Over time that moisture breaks down the adhesive and you get those seam lifts and bubbles even without heavy traffic. @lewis.gray nailed it about glue-down in high traffic spots, but for Denver's climate swings with all our freeze-thaw cycles, that trapped moisture is gonna cause even bigger problems down the road.