|
With all of the traffic that our carpeting gets, it's not surprising that it occasionally gets damaged. But, many homeowners are unaware that there is a middle ground between replacing your entire carpeting and rearranging your furniture to hide the damaged spots. In fact, carpeting professionals can often repair the damage that your carpeting has incurred. Some common professional carpet repairs include: Problem: Burned, stained or otherwise damaged carpeting Solution: "Cut and plug" is used to repair small areas of carpet that are burned, stained or similarly damaged. The damaged piece of carpet is cut out and a good piece of matching carpet is hot-glued into its place. If leftover matching carpet isn't available, a small piece is usually taken from a closet or similar hidden location. Problem: Loose or wrinkled areas of carpeting Solution: Restretching is used for loose and wrinkled carpets. Like a facelift, restretching makes carpeting tight again. This also prolongs the carpet's life by eliminating wrinkles which can cause the carpet to wear more quickly from the constant back and forth bending that occurs when they are stepped on. It also reduces the danger of tripping on the loose material. METHODS OF REPAIR... only a little sleight of hand, maybe some GOOP, and a little luck separate you from success The "Shaving" Method You can sometimes improve the appearance of the carpet by using a razor blade and carefully shaving off the melted ends, taking off as little material as you can. This works best with shags and dense carpets, but only if the burn is not too deep. The "Hair Club for Men" Method Find an area that you can "borrow" some fibers, such as the inside of a closet, under a radiator, or, better yet, a remnant from the original installation. Using a razor, trim the damaged area down to the backing. Using a toothpick or very small flat screwdriver, apply a waterproof adhesive, such as GOOP, carefully onto the backing. Do not get any on the surrounding fibers or you'll glue them together! Press the strands of fiber into the GOOP. Let the GOOP dry for 24 hours. If necessary, carefully trim the glued-in fibers back to the level of the carpet. If you have an aversion to using a solvent based product, you can use a clear latex adhesive caulk. I prefer the GOOP because it has more initial tackiness and is more indestructible when dry. The "PLUG" Method This method involves completely cutting out the damaged carpet and replacing it with a new piece. Before you start, be aware that if your carpet has faded or is very worn, the patch may be noticeable. So do the smallest patch you can to improve your chances of aesthetic success. A triangle is better than a rectangle for little patches. It's just easier to cut and easier to reproduce for your patching piece. Carpet does have a grain. You can see it when you vacuum... ever notice how the carpet shows "tracks" when you put the vacuum in one direction, and seems to fluff up when you move in another direction? That is the grain, caused by manufacturing methods. This is more pronounced on some carpets than others, and you should observe your own carpet to see if you need to orient the patch to match the existing grain. Many repair articles tell you to use carpet tape for this repair. Good idea if you are doing a large patch, but most patches are small, so by the time you try to force the tape through a little hole, it is a balled up useless clot of hair, dirt, and carpet fibers. If the hole is near enough to a wall so that a little rollback of the carpet is possible, use the carpet tape. If not, use good old GOOP! There is a second reason not to use the tape. Self-stick carpet tape is less moisture resistant than GOOP, so future carpet cleaning may cause a taped patch to release. More of this topic in the following links: carpet repair auckland city
Related Articles -
carpet repair, carpet repairs, carpet repair auckland, carpet repair northshore, carpet repair west auckland, carpet repair south auckland,
| 
