Carpet seam tape from the 90s vs today, total difference

I was pulling up old carpet at a church in Akron last week and the seam tape from 1994 was STILL holding better than some of the new stuff I used on a job Tuesday. Has anyone else noticed the adhesive formula changed way more than we talk about?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulm9529d ago

Eric saying he can peel the new stuff with his fingers after a year is too accurate. I did the same thing last month on a remodel and the tape just flaked off like old masking tape. That solvent based switch is exactly it, once they went water based to keep the EPA happy, the glue turned into garbage. I bet the old stuff from the 90s had enough chemicals to probably strip paint off a car, but it held the carpet down forever. Now you gotta pray the seams don't pop before the carpet even wears out.

ericnguyen1mo ago

I pulled up some 1980s carpet in a Cleveland church basement a few years back and the tape was almost fused to the concrete. The new stuff I buy at Lowe's, I can peel it up with my fingers after a year. Makes me wonder if the shift from solvent based adhesives to water based ones is the real culprit. I had a supplier tell me once the VOC regulations changed everything around 2005 or so. Would you agree thats when you noticed the biggest drop in quality?