My Carpet Has Stretched
Carpets can stretch, causing wrinkles or puckers, for numerous reasons: heavy traffic, poor installation, improper padding, humidity or even delamination of the carpet backing with age. The carpet can usually be restretched in a few hours. You can hire a professional, or you can borrow or rent a few tools and apply some elbow grease yourself. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
-
Preparing the Room
-
Vacuum the carpet to remove dirt and debris. Remove all furniture from the room so that nothing remains on the carpet. This is especially important for larger pieces, such as couches and hutches. You may need to pull the carpet back from all walls, but typically you will need to detach at least two sections. Nothing should obstruct you or the technician from pulling the carpet taut.
Untacking the Carpet
-
When carpet is laid, it is stretched and "stuck" onto carpet tack strips -- thin pieces of wood glued or nailed to the subflooring, with tiny, sharp nails sticking upright to hold the carpet in place. To remove the carpet from the wall, don gloves to protect your hands; using a pair of pliers, gently pull the carpet back from a wall corner. Once a section is started, wiggle the carpet and roll it over the top to loosen it as you move down the wall, pulling it free of the sharp tacks.
-
Removing the Wrinkles
-
Pull the carpet back to the wrinkled portion. Check beneath the carpet to ensure that the padding has not bunched up, which could be causing the wrinkle. If so, smooth it out; if necessary, replace it with a fresh piece cut to fit the surrounding pad. Carpet padding is typically stapled to the flooring beneath it to make sure it is secure. Roll the carpet back to the tack strips, pulling it taut and making sure only one or two inches of the carpeting edge overlap the tack strip for later attachment. Make any necessary corrections at corners and around grates; trim any excess carpet overhang around the room. Walk back over the carpet to make sure the wrinkle has been removed and the carpet appears smooth again before reattaching.
Reattaching the Carpet
-
Use a "knee kicker" -- a human-powered version of a power stretcher -- to reattach the carpet to the tack strips. This metal device is approximately two feet long, with one end containing sharp teeth, and the other padded for knee contact. The kicker should be placed one inch from the tack strip, but at a slight angle to the wall rather than perpendicular. While on your knees, attach a corner of the carpet edge to a tack strip. Place the teeth of the kicker -- often retractable -- into the carpet edge, as well. Using your knee, give the padded end of the kicker a swift push; the motion will allow it to smoothly hook the carpet onto the strip. Continue the motion until the carpet is reattached; this may be enough to stretch the carpet completely for small rooms, or if only one or two sides of the carpet have been detached. For larger rooms, or if three or more walls have had the carpet detached, a power stretcher is recommended to properly pull on the carpet with enough force to remove any wrinkles without tearing it. Either machine can be purchased or rented; follow detailed instructions on their proper use to avoid injury -- especially knee injuries with the knee kicker.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
