Carpeting isn’t just a decorative element in your home, it’s an essential component that functions not only as a room insulator but also softens floors you regularly walk on. Carpet is great for traipsing around barefoot, relaxing on your back while watching the television, or for playing board games with family and friends. For most homeowners, the expectation is that taking care of carpeting will maintain its beauty and lifespan. The best place to start is regular vacuuming, but more intense steam cleaning or shampooing may be required. Over time, you may notice lumps or waves in your carpeting, making you wonder if you need professional carpet stretching.
What’s Carpet Stretching?
This is a process where carpet stretching professionals in Boulder will come to your home and stretch a wrinkled or bunched-up carpet back to its original form. A carpet repair expert may stretch your carpet after doing any of the following:
- Remove any furniture, bookcases or other items from your room that would get in the way of Westminster carpet repair professionals from stretching your carpeting.
- Vacuuming and shampooing the carpet if needed.
- Removing tacks and tacking strips from the carpet pad.
- Replacing tack strips with new ones as needed before returning the carpet to its previous location.
- Using a power stretcher and knee kicker to smooth the floor covering and condense it along the wall. A knee kicker is used to smooth out the carpet as a finishing touch.
- Finally, a carpet stretching professional will trim excess carpet edges. Once the carpet edges are pressed down and affixed into the new tack strip, the extra carpet can be eliminated for a more flawless look. The trimming allows for an even, precise appearance.
Signs Your Carpet Needs Stretching
Carpet is very durable and is manufactured to last. But heavy foot traffic or furniture sitting in one place for years can start to wear it down or loosen it from the floor over time. This means your carpet will need additional maintenance as it ages. Here are some signs to look for that indicate your carpet needs stretching.
Lumps or Wrinkles
Visible bubbles or wrinkles may appear when carpet has been used for a number of years. Moving furniture or dragging heavy objects or other activities can warp carpeting and make it unattractive to look at. Foot traffic and other factors contribute to lumps, too. Stretching carpets helps restore their original flat and consistent appearance.
Carpet Damage
Depending on carpet thickness, cuts and tears can happen in the base structure, creating a need for Westminster carpet repair or stretching. This type of damage can loosen the carpeting, especially if it’s in a large area. Inspecting the carpet pile to look for visible signs of damage is a good idea, particularly because a large cut is a sign you need to have the carpet repaired or stretched.
Are the Edges Loose?
Professional installers affix the carpet with tack strips to keep it from moving. You can tell if the carpet is loose and requires stretching by checking the corners or edges. Lose edges are a warning sign the carpet needs to be stretched and re-affixed to the subfloor.
You can test this yourself. Insert an awl tool into the middle of the carpet and bring it up about one inch from the floor. Take the tool out and allow the carpet to fall back into place. If it snaps quickly into place, you’re ok. But if it doesn’t, contact us today for maintenance or repair. In all likelihood, your carpet needs to be stretched into place.
Other Signs
Your carpet may also need stretching if you notice that it's rumpled, wrinkly, or rippled; if there are areas that don't lie flat; or if there are rug piles along the baseboard.
What Causes Wrinkled Carpet?
- Bad Installation - If a carpet isn’t stretched correctly during installation, it can loosen and develop wrinkles and ripples. Bad installation is one of the prime reasons for wrinkly rugs and carpets. Because newly manufactured carpeting is stiffer than in years past, it’s critical that your carpet repair partner uses the proper techniques and tools during initial installation.
- Low-quality carpet and padding - You get what you pay for, and while lower quality carpet and padding are less expensive initially, they may cost more in the long run. No matter what carpeting you buy, check out the manufacturer’s specifications in terms of recommended padding and where it should be installed. These factors may influence the need later on for carpet stretching.
- Too much water - If you regularly use a carpet shampoo machine, you may be leading moisture behind that will not only damage the subfloor, but carpet padding and the carpeting itself. To avoid this, we recommend always working with an experienced and qualified carpet stretching professional.
- Delamination - This happens when the carpet detaches from the backing. This can be due to poor manufacturing, in which case you should file a warranty claim as soon as possible.
- The environment - You also need to consider two other factors; humidity and temperature. All coverings need to acclimate to the room environment, at least 24 hours prior to installation. Carpeting that’s being installed shouldn’t sit for an extended period of time in a closed-in room where the temperature is above 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
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When Professional Carpet Cleaning Isn’t Enough
We obviously do our best to try and extend the lifespan of carpets for as long as possible, but nothing lasts forever and eventually carpeting will have to be replaced. But how do you know when that moment has arrived? We’ve seen thousands of carpets over the last 40+ years in Arvada and the surrounding area, and there are numerous indicators that tell you that a carpet is past its best. In this post, we’re going to discuss what these are so that you can tell when it’s time to invest in a new one.
Don’t get us wrong, carpets can last for years and years, and we’re obviously great believers in the power of regular professional carpet cleaning. We’ve seen first-hand in many Arvada homes what proper care and maintenance can do. But there comes a time when the only option is “out with the old, in with the new”.
Here are some of the telltale signs that the time has come to invest in a new carpet.
Permanent Stains that Nothing Will Remove
Does your front room resemble a battlefield, with a stain here, there and everywhere that you just can’t seem to get rid of. Do you have to arrange your furniture in a way that keeps all of these “battle scars” hidden from sight? This is one sign that your carpet may be past its best.
When carpets are new, they typically have a stain-resistant coat that helps to repel most kinds of stains that may occur in the average household. But over time, this finish fades and the carpet is no longer protected. At this point, even carpet cleaning carried out by an experienced pro will be unlikely to budge the most challenging stains. This is because during a professional cleaning, usually it’ll only be cleaned as far down as the base, because applying a lot of pressure to the base can weaken the glue that holds the carpet to the pad underneath.
Stains are also often worsened by the homeowner following a DIY tutorial they find online. You might think you’re saving a few dollars by doing this instead of calling for professional carpet cleaning, but many DIY methods make use of very strong chemicals and can permanently damage the carpet. When this happens, there's nothing we or any other pro in Arvada will be able to do for you.
Visible Wear on the Carpet
There are things you can do to prevent wear on a carpet – removing your shoes, for example – but over time it’s only normal that it will become worn in the areas that experience the highest foot traffic.
If there’s just a small area of frayed carpet or there’s a small rip or tear in one or two locations, it’s likely you’ll be able to repair this. But if there are rips and tears all over the carpet and large matted areas that you’re having to cover up with a variety of areas rugs, there’s really no other option but to replace it. To pay for all of these repairs would likely cost just as much, if not more than a new carpet anyway.
Your Carpet Smells...Bad!
Bad smells in carpets are commonplace if you have a pet or a young child. But if after paying for a deep carpet cleaning your carpet still smells just as bad, this is a bad sign. Whatever is causing the musty carpet odor hasn’t just affected the visible carpet fibers – it’s penetrated much deeper than that.
It’s probably gone through to the carpet pad or even the subfloor. And there’s really no easy way to remove an odor when it’s worked its way that far down, even with the commercial equipment that carpet cleaning companies use. A persistent odor may even be a sign of mold or mildew growth in those areas.
When things get to this stage, the only real way to remedy the situation is to have the carpet replaced.
People in the Home Having More Problems with Allergies?
As an asthmatic, I can tell you that cleanliness and indoor air quality in the home are vital to a happy, healthy existence. Have you or anyone else in your home noticed that their allergies are giving them a hard time recently? It could be that your carpet is to blame.
Older carpets are a haven for allergens and tend to harbor them far more than a newer carpet does. The solution: a new carpet.
Your Carpet Is Stuck in the Past
While some homeowners (by some, I mean a lot) live by the mantra “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” you might possibly change your carpet for reasons other than a deterioration in its condition. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with it, but its aesthetic is now simply outdated. You probably wouldn’t want to wear the same clothes you had in your wardrobe 20 years ago, so you might not want to have your front room styled following the trends of 20 years ago. Times change, and sometimes you have to change with them.
An Arvada Carpet Cleaning Company You Can Count On
We can’t replace your carpets for you, but once you have had your new carpet fitted, we can ensure it stays as clean as that first day for as long as possible. If you need any help or advice, or you’d like to book an appointment, contact our carpet cleaning team at 303-530-4900.