Carpet Stretching Extends the Life of Your Carpet
You may be wondering why your carpet is forming lumps, mounds, or ripples. Aren’t carpets supposed to be durable and tough? When a carpet starts buckling in this way, you don’t need to throw away the whole thing and get it replaced. After all, that can be costly compared to carpet stretching in Chandler–a common problem but simple and easy fix–that’s worth your time and money.
What causes a carpet to buckle?
There are a lot of reasons why carpets form big lumps, hills, and bubbles. Here are some of the most common causes for buckling carpets that carpet stretchers from Magic Touch Carpet Repair And Cleaning see on a day-to-day basis.
- Humidity: In hot, humid, or moist climates, water can penetrate a carpet–especially if the carpet is old. As a result, the carpet expands while taking on moisture, and peels off of the floor. This happens in the summer when there’s a drastic temperature change.
- Flooding: If water intrudes into your home, your carpet could get damaged beyond repair. Flooding can not only cause a carpet to warp its shape, but can also invite mildew to grow between the underside of the carpet and the underpad.
- Non-Acclimated Carpet: Before a carpet is installed, it should be left in the same for a short time. This allows for the carpet to expand or contract according to the indoor environment, so that it can be accurately stretched.
- Installing the Wrong Underpad: So much depends on the underpad being the correct size and density to give the carpet support.
- Bad Carpet Installation: If a carpet hasn’t been stretched across the room to its optimal tightness, it shows by buckling easily over time.
- Dragging heavy things across the carpet: When you drag heavy furniture across the carpet, you run the risk of disconnecting the carpet from the underpad and tacks along the floor.
How Carpet Stretching Works
Knowing the common causes of carpet stretching, it’s important to think about how to address the issue as soon as possible. After all, carpet buckling is not only unsightly, but it also becomes a safety hazard for you, your family, and guests.
The cost-benefit of having your carpet stretched is also better than replacing your carpet completely. Especially since carpet stretching is a quick and painless procedure. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Clear out the room.
Before a professional from Magic Touch Carpet Repair And Cleaning can start on stretching your carpet, the furniture–tables, bookshelves, TV stands, chairs, etc.–need to be removed from the room. Depending on which room you need to stretch your carpet, this can be a time consuming and laborious process. Lucky for you, the specialists at Magic Touch will do the heavy lifting for you.
Step 2: Vacuum and shampoo the carpet.
After The furniture gets removed, the carpet then needs a good cleaning. An effective cleaning timeframe takes about one full day of washing, shampooing, and drying. Once all of the moisture is free from the carpet and is returned to its dry form, then the carpet stretching can commence.
Step 3: Yank the carpet off of the tacks.
After they peel the damaged carpet back, the carpet lining opposite side of the wall need to remained tacked down. Professionals will then pull out tacks from the pad, along with their tack strips. They do this to fully expose the underpad.
Step 4: Replace with new tack strips
Professionals at Magic Touch Carpet Repair And Cleaning will then replace the tack strips with new ones before placing the carpet back to its original place.
Step 5: Use a power stretcher and knee kicker
The power stretcher is the secret weapon for carpet repair specialists at Magic Touch. It works by placing the machine against the wall anchoring the carpet. Then, using a lever to push the machine into the carpet, the power stretcher smooths the carpet and compresses it along the wall. For a detailed stretch, the knee kicker is used to smooth out the carpet for a finishing touch.
Step 6: Trim excess carpet edges with a knife
First, the edges of the carpet get pushed down and fastened into the newly laid tack strip. When the carpet is completely secured to the tacks, repair people then remove the excess carpet by sliding a box-cutter along the edge for a precise and even trim, so that the carpet butts up against the wall seamlessly.
Call a Professional to Stretch Your Carpet Today!
Carpet stretching should absolutely be left up to the professionals. At Magic Touch, we’ve earned our reputation around Chandler for quality service and repairs. Give us a call today!