How Carpet Stretching Works - The Full Process


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If you own a home nowadays and either bought a newer home with carpet
or have recently had carpet installed
then you may have already experienced a problem with your carpet developing wrinkles.

At first, this might be very alarming if you've never experienced carpet buckling
or waves in the carpet but it's actually quite normal
with carpet now and it can be fairly simple to fix.

On this page, I will break down the steps taken when re-stretching carpet,
you can rent tools to try and do it yourself
or use this page to understand the process when hiring a professional.


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Why Does The Carpet Have Wrinkles To Begin With?


One of the most common reasons that carpet develops wrinkles is improper installation.
Most carpet installers do not get paid what they deserve when installing carpet so they cut corners
and will usually only use a knee kicker to fit the carpet into place as quickly as possible.
They also don't let the carpet acclimate to the temperature of your home,
they just bring in the carpet and install it as fast as they can to get to the next job.

The problem with doing this is that once the carpet gets used to the ambient temperature
of your home, it will loosen up and start to expand.
With nowhere to go, it will hit the walls and then start to buckle and develop wrinkles.

Now another reason this may happen is if the carpet is installed upstairs
and there is a lot of heat coming up from downstairs through the subfloor hitting the back of the carpet.
This can happen in rooms above a kitchen or garage area.

Another common reason is if the carpet has just been cleaned and the moisture left in the carpet
causes the carpet to expand and develop wrinkles or bumps.
When this happens the carpet will usually settle down after a day or two when the carpet is fully dry
and you will notice the carpet flatten back out.


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Pulling Back The Carpet


The first step in fixing carpet wrinkles is pulling back the carpet
and detaching it from the tack strips that hold the stretched carpet in place.
Baseboards do not need to be removed because the carpet either tucks down under the baseboards
or gets tucked to the baseboards like you were tucking it to a wall.

Not all the carpet needs to be pulled back,
Keep a U shape connected to one side and detach the majority of the other U
making sure the carpet is being stretched perpendicular to the way the wrinkles are forming.


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Using A Power Stretcher To Re-Stretch The Carpet


A power stretcher with poles is then used to grip the carpet and uses leverage
to pull the carpet across the room for the tightest stretch possible.
If you hire a professional and they bring in a knee kicker to do this
then that will only solve your problem temporarily
but will develop wrinkles again in the future.

A power stretcher can be rented from your local home improvement store
if they offer tool rentals and is a great choice if you have a simple area you need to be stretched.


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How Much Excess Carpet To Expect


When the carpet is stretched over, there will be excess material that needs to be cut.
Depending on the type of carpet this can be as little as 1/2 an inch or up to 4 inches.
The carpet can be stretched across the room and held in place by the tack strips
before cutting the excess material and tucking the carpet back in.


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Trimming / Cutting The Excess Carpet


After the carpet is stretched a carpet knife can be used to trim the carpet
or a utility knife can be used if you're not comfortable with how sharp
the carpet blades can be.
Take your time and cut the carpet as close to the baseboard or wall as possible
in order to be able to easily tuck the carpet in when finished.

If you accidentally cut the carpet too short you can apply a little more pressure
using the carpet stretcher to fill the gap created.

If the baseboards are raised above the subfloor then you have a little bit of room
to tuck the carpet under so you don't need to cut the carpet as close as possible,
but if the baseboards are flush with the subfloor
you have to be very close when cutting the carpet.


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Tucking The Carpet Back Into Place


Now that most of the work is finished,
all that's left is to tuck the carpet back into place.
This can be done with a carpet stair tool or really anything
that is strong and thin enough to tuck the carpet back to the baseboards.


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Tools Needed To Really Stretch Carpet


If you have a simple room that needs to be stretched like this one
and don't need to worry about carpet seams or connecting to other rooms
then you mostly need a power stretcher, a carpet blade, and something to tuck the carpet.
The knee kicker is optional if you need to use it to adjust the power stretcher left or right
or if you have a smaller area you need to kick into place.

Larger jobs or hallway areas can be more challenging and I would recommend
hiring a professional that has the skill and experience to handle those areas.


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After Re-Stretching & Cleaning The Carpet


After stretching the carpet, most of my clients ask to have the carpets cleaned afterward.
Both the stretching and cleaning can be done during the same appointment and usually only
takes a few hours depending on the size of the job.

Some people ask if they should have the carpet stretched first and then cleaned
or have the carpets cleaned first and then stretched.
Either way is fine but I usually prefer stretching first so that I am not
bringing in tools and walking over the freshly cleaned carpet.

Depending on how bad the carpet wrinkles peaked and the type of carpet,
sometimes after stretching there will be a visual mark where the carpet wrinkles were.
I refer to these as 'stretch marks' and even though the carpet is completely flat
these marks may still be visible where the wrinkles were.
Over time they will go away and having the carpets cleaned definitely helps.

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