Tried that and lasted about a week. My thumbs got tired of typing on a glass screen and I kept trying to right-click on everything. Went back to the clunky laptop, but my shoulder definitely misses the lighter bag.

But that slack you leave, does it ever cause a different problem? Like maybe the edges don't lay flat right away or you get a slight lip if the carpet has a strong backing. I'm trying to picture how you manage that eighth inch without it looking loose before the glue sets.

Trusting your nose is good, but a year in a closet is pushing it for most ferments. You can get some nasty stuff growing that doesn't smell off right away.

My old truck bed was a toxic landfill, simonl86.

My first foreman told me the same thing about twenty years ago. He said a good caulk line should disappear, not look like a white worm stuck to the wall. The wet finger trick is everything, but I also keep a damp sponge in a bucket nearby. You can wipe the excess right off the sponge and it keeps your hands cleaner. It turns a messy job into something you can actually take pride in. That clean line is the difference between a hack and a real finish carpenter.