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Loose Carpet

This isn’t normal! But, it seems to be the norm today due to poor installers and uninformed consumers. Sure, some carpets will do this for other reasons but usually near the end of the life of the carpet if it is installed correctly. It’s been blamed on many things but the truth of the matter is it’s due to a poor install. This is why we carpet stretching San Diego

I don’t install carpet, never wanted to simply for the reason that you have these issues: everyone shops for the cheapest price so that quality and craftsmanship are forced out of the end result. I’m not just talking about the consumer, I’m talking about the manufacturer, the distributor and then the installer. Installing a carpet correctly takes the skill, education, tools and quality time. It’s hard work and I’d be in debt if I did a job and had to do it right. I won’t go into all the professional steps that lead up to a good install but keep it to “power stretching”.

So, since globally we all are indoctrinated and driven to cheapest price way back when when we all gave into all things “made in china”, quality is an old fashioned word redefined. The carpet manufacturer has taken manufacturing steps backwards to come up with inferior product and material that is cheaper to make and sells for more. Just look at your Mom’s 22 year old nylon plush cut pile that still has years on it compared to your imitated version of today that is 100% polyester. Look at the craftsmanship of the install on hers, flawless even at 22 years while yours has several issues I would be able to find: loose, wrong pad, loose tackless strips, maybe loose/broken transitions to hard floors and unraveling seams. Lately Ive seen 2 different colors of the same carpet simply because a different lot# was used.

When is the last time the carpet distributor helped you choose your carpet for your specific lifestyle, home location, health issues and room uses? Every carpet fiber type has a reason, every construction type has a reason and your salesman should lead you in the right direction. Floor covering are not cheap and they used to be designed for longevity. Certain carpet fibers bother certain peoples health, some were not designed for wear, some not designed for an oily or greasy situation such as a dining room, many are just designed to just look good temporarily. There is nothing like coming into someone’s home with new loop pile carpet and the cats, dogs and vacuum have pulled the yarns and created runs.

So the distributor didn’t help on that whatsoever, now we have their installer that you had hoped are their installers who know their trade and are concerned about your customer care and service. Most of the time unfortunately an “invitation to bid” goes out to installers. The Distributor subcontracts the cheapest bidder, the cheapest bidder has to take many shortcuts and work quick to make some profit. Probably going to up sell you on some things like “special” pad you don’t need. Sure it’s shady but that is where we are heading today. So many entities out there like these home improvement service types out there that get paid from contractors to list themselves and bid on work. The consumer gets to choose the cheapest. There are still a few distributors that have their in house installers that are craftsman but they cost more! Sure, probably cheaper after you get all the repairs addressed a year after the install.

Your carpet usually has a 25 year warranty from the carpet manufacturer. Your distributor normally gives you a year install warranty. Let’s say you make a claim to the carpet manufacturer for a defect. The Mfr. sends me out to inspect it for you, I inspect but find the carpet is installed incorrectly, say it’s loose, not power stretched. Well, your 25 year warranty is now VOID simply because it’s loose – improper install, it’s considered damaged goods and technically “never installed” because it wasn’t power stretched. So, you call the distributor and he tells you that the install warranty is only good for 1 year and it’s been 14 months.

You’re going to have to pay someone like me to restretch your carpet once you’re out of periodicity and you don’t call me until 12-18 months for carpet cleaning iaw your 25 year warranty requirements. Had you called me before the year we can help you get brand new carpet or get it fixed. Loose carpet is considered damaged goods for a few good reasons and we’ve had several clients get new or repairs due to our post installation inspection. It’s just my procedure to inspect every carpet before we clean it and relay the issues to you and ID them on paper for you in case you want to make a claim. Yes, we can do the repair for you and most of the time end up doing it since the carpet is a few years old and previous carpet cleaners never knew what to look for or take the time to point it out.

Carpet Restretching

When we do the restretch or in reality the “only” stretch the carpet has ever had, we get quite a bit of trim from at least 2 sides of the room. Many times we need to lay down another row tackless strip in order to hold the tension but we leave it tight and guarantee our work for as long as you have the carpet.

Carpet Wrinkles After Cleaning

The above is an example of nice heavy ounce carpet we clean every year. This type of construction does this right after cleaning but the wrinkles always relax. The carpet is loose but the client doesn’t feel the need to restretch it. This will normally happen on a loose carpet, sometimes they relax, sometimes they don’t in certain spots. This is why we inspect before we clean, if it’s loose and this happens we don’t warranty that. Many carpet cleaners have called me to repair this at their expense thinking they damaged the carpet. Had they inspected it prior and identified it they wouldn’t have been responsible.

If you’ve recently had a new install or know anyone who has, call us to have us inspect that install. The things you should know as a carpet consumer is that your installer “must” use a power stretcher. It’s an array of adjustable poles that got from one wall to the other and put a stretch on all 4 sides of the carpet.

Power Stretcher

Using a power stretcher takes quality time and is skipped by the low bidder. He uses a Knee Kicker instead which is an aid tool and not acceptable for stretching in new carpet.

Knee Kicker is not a stretcher

The knee kicker shown in the center is used to bump up the slack between the two stretchers above in order to tuck it in and hold on tack strips. It is not a stretcher by any means and if your installer is using just that then you need to stop the job and call your distributor.

Those new seams they will be putting in better be “seam sealed” along the cut so that the tufts or fibers don’t just pull out every time you vacuum over it.

Carpet Latex backing

It’s just latex adhesive that gets run along the newly cut edges, same latex you see here on the backing. Problem is it takes time to dry but is mandatory.

One of the reasons that loose carpet is considered damaged goods is because of the wear on the top of the carpet where the wrinkle was and the breakdown of the backing latex under the carpet. You can see above some of the crease where the wrinkle was even though it is stretched flat. This carpet is just over a year old and that crease shouldn’t have to be there! You paid good money for that carpet and you shouldn’t be given an inferior install and end product.

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