Warning: Seam roller nearly destroyed my knee on a job in Austin

Was working a big living room install in a 3 story house last Tuesday. Bent down to roll a seam near the stairs and my knee slipped on a loose piece of tack strip I missed. Landed hard on the concrete subfloor and the roller handle jabbed right into my thigh. Had to limp through the rest of the job with a bruise the size of a softball. Anyone else ever get wrecked by their own tools on a simple mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

young.thomas13d ago

Austin floors are always a gamble with those slab foundations. But quick thing, that concrete subfloor you mentioned is probably a gypcrete or lightweight concrete topping, not a true concrete slab. Real concrete would've cracked your knee worse than a softball bruise. You'd be looking at a trip to the ER if it was actual concrete. Either way, tack strip hidden under carpet padding is a nightmare. I've started running a strong magnet over the subfloor before any seam work just to find the stray staples and nails.

carter.mila13d ago

I used a shop vac with a hose attachment works better than a magnet for picking up the loose stuff.

the_alice13d ago

Oh man, the magnet trick is genius! I tried something similar when I tore out my own carpet. @carter.mila is right about the shop vac though, I had to switch to that after the magnet kept picking up random screws that weren't even from the carpet install. My knees still remember that gypcrete - you're spot on about it being softer than real concrete, but it still hurts like crazy when you land on it.