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By Elite Carpet Cleaning 4-27-2013

Consumer Guide to Carpet Repair in Denver

My carpet is bubbled or wrinkled. Why do I need to have it re-stretched or repaired?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how disruptive is the carpet repair?

How long does it take?

Re-stretching and Repairing Delaminated Carpet in Denver

  • Buckles, bubbles, wrinkles and loose carpet: These can all be repaired by re-stretching the carpet properly into the room. How disruptive is this? On our scale of 1-5, one being least and five being the most, a lot depends on where the bubbles or buckles are located and the amount and size of furniture in the room and the pattern in the carpet. For example, if the bubble is in a doorway, the disruption is minimal, (1-2), and the time required is usually an hour or two. Unfortunately this problem is common here in Denver, but happily, this is an area of carpet that tends to be easy to repair. Place the same bubble in a location such as large family room with an entertainment center, sectional sofa and/or a piano, and re-stretching becomes a little more challenging, (3-4), and time consuming, around half a day. We know life in Denver is busy, so we will make these types of carpet repairs with as little disturbance to your home and life as possible. All options will be considered and presented to you during your free inspection, before any work begins, and we will always work within the perimeters you set.

Another question about bubbles and wrinkles in the carpet is:

Although they are unsightly, I can hide them under furniture and rugs.

Why is it important to have my carpet re-stretched?

Most residential grade carpet is constructed with two backings sandwiching the base of the carpet fibers and glued together, or laminated, for stability. After manufacturing is complete, the carpet is fastened tightly in a roll that works with the directional fibers in the backings and fibers to secure the laminated backings together. Once the carpet is unrolled, it becomes vulnerable to delamination from positional stress. Bubbles in the carpet indicate that the carpet backings are no longer being held together by being tightly stretched into place on the floor. Poorly stretched or bubbled, the carpet backings will now pull apart from each other (delaminate). This process is accelerated by friction and force each time someone in the home walks across it. At first, this isn’t evident on the surface yarns, but occurs underneath, on the backing. Small bubbles or wrinkles appearing in areas experiencing greater stress, for example where foot traffic makes a sharp turn, may indicate the beginning of delamination.

An extreme example of this is below. The woven area visible is the upper backing. The gray material is the lower or primary backing, composed of latex in this instance. When the carpet was turned over, the separation of the two layers and subsequent damage were apparent.

Although this carpet also had water damage, had it initially been installed properly, and dried immediately after saturation, delamination would not have occurred, and the original carpet could have been dried and reinstalled, saving the client the cost of new carpet. Delamination as extensive as this cannot be repaired

  • Delamination. Most delamination is not this bad. However it is important not to let it go. Repairing carpet that has delaminated can be anywhere from 2-5 on our scale. Again, it depends on the size and location of the delamination. These repairs can sometimes be made on the surface, but in the majority of these cases, a proper repair will require that the carpet be disengaged from the tack strip and be repaired from the underside. In this process, both layers of backing will be glued back together, and then reinforced with an additional layer of backing where the delamination occurred. A very large delamination requiring larger amounts of glue must be dried completely so the adhesive will hold before the carpet can be properly reinstalled. Our dry Denver climate completes this process overnight, allowing the carpet repair and reinstallation to be completed the next day. A smaller area of delamination, such as in a corner, or a doorway transitioning to hard flooring, can be repaired in one to two hours.

In every case, from the quick and simple to the major repairs, we never lose focus on the fact that this is your home. We will take the time to fully explain the problem, the options available, and fully answer your questions. We appreciate the value you place on quality of life here in Denver, and we will perform your carpet repairs in the manner that you choose.

We hope we have answered some of your questions about how and why bubbles in your carpet should be taken care of. Since carpeting in the home is the third-largest investment most homeowners will make, knowing how to take care of it is an important safeguard for your investment.

By Elite Carpet Cleaning 4-24-2013

DENVER AREA CONSUMER GUIDE TO CARPET CLEANING PART 1

Is carpet cleaning a DYI project?
How often should it be cleaned?
Does it matter who I choose or what cleaning method is used?

This guide will answer these four common questions and will provide tips on how to keep your home healthy as well as help you avoid unethical cleaners and common rip-offs!

Many people put off cleaning their carpet because choosing a carpet cleaning company is not any easy thing to do. Why is it so difficult? For one thing it’s a matter of trust. It’s not easy to just pick a name from a Denver carpet cleaning Google search, especially when we are going to allow this stranger in our home. We want to be sure we’ve chosen a reputable company with a history of outstanding professionalism and service, not someone who is not only scary looking, but hits us with high-pressure offensive sales tactics once inside our home. For this reason some consumers decide carpet cleaning is a DIY. But is that the best choice for the longevity of your flooring investment?

1. Is carpet cleaning a DIY project?

Yes, but mostly no. The problem with machines that can be rented from Denver supermarkets or hardware stores is that they don’t get the water hot enough to clean the carpet thoroughly and they don’t have enough suction power to extract the dirt and grime hidden in deepest parts of the carpet pile.

  • Rental machines roughly cost around $300
  • A professional portable $5000
  • Truck mounted unit $18,000.

With that in mind it’s easy to see which type of carpet cleaning method would work the best. Also the cleaners available for use in most rental machines tend to be a little more on the benign side. This is because DIYer’s (in the past, myself included) don’t always follow label mixing and application instructions, therefore the cleaners have to be able to clean a very broad spectrum of carpet fibers without damaging them. On the other hand an IICRC certified carpet cleaning technician has an array of cleaners at his disposal and will match the perfect cleaner to your carpet for a clean that’s can’t be touched by rental equipment.

A couple of questions to ask yourself:

  • How much is my time worth? (I think I’d rather visit the Denver Art Museum or Denver Zoo with my kids than cleaning carpet.)
  • Do I really want to try to save a few dollars by going out, renting a machine, learning how to use it, doing the actual work, then cleaning it up and returning it to the store?
  • Is it really worth it?

2.How often should my carpet be cleaned?

Carpet cleaning needs to be done on a regular bases. Why? Small dirt and grime particles are abrasive and each time you walk on your carpet they act like sandpaper on the carpet fibers. The longer we go between carpet cleanings the more damage the carpet suffers. Sometimes it helps to put the importance of carpet cleaning and proper maintenance into prospective with the cost of other major purchases. Most of us don’t realize that:

  • Carpet is usually the third largest investment most homeowners will make
  • After their home
  • And their automobile

It makes sense to protect our flooring investment

The frequency depends on several factors.

  1. How many people live in the home
  2. Their ages
  3. If you have any pets
  4. Your families health
  5. Allergies

If you have children you already know how fast things like rugs, carpet and upholstery can get dirty. Our pets also tend to forget to wipe their feet before coming inside. Under these conditions carpet can lose its attractiveness rather quickly. Our recommendation would be to have the open areas cleaned every eight to twelve months which nicely compliments most manufacturers’ warranty recommendations to have the carpet cleaning every 24 months.

There is also your families health to consider when deciding how often to clean the carpet. Carpeting acts like a giant filter in our homes. It traps dust, dirt, allergens and all the yucky stuff that finds its way into our homes. Just like the filter in the furnace which functions best when it’s clean, our home will stay cleaner longer and trap more of the unseen nasty’s if our carpet is cleaned regularly. If someone you love suffers from allergies, asthma or other breathing problems professional cleaning can be an effective tool in the battle against these irritants and allergens.

Care for the beautiful in things in life

Hopefully we’ve help answer the first 2 questions

  1. Is Carpet Cleaning a DIY project?
  2. How often should I clean my carpet?

In the next blog we’ll answer

  1. Does it really matter which carpet cleaning company in Denver I choose?
  2. Although we’ve discussed it somewhat: What is the best method for cleaning my carpet?

CATEGORIES: Carpet Cleaning