Catch a wave: Discover why carpet buckles and ripples?
Please queue the Beach Boy’s song; “Catch a wave while you’re sitting on top of the world.” However, carpet that looks like a wave pool running through your living room is a real downer.
So why does this occur? The short answer is the carpet has lost its ability to hold tension. The older the carpet is, the less tension it has! (As I get older, I know the feeling). Over the past 20 years of carpet cleaning in the Kansas City area, I’ve seen it all! I am often asked, “What causes carpet to lose tension and need re-stretching?” Listed are some of the most probable reasons:
- Poor Installation– Carpet installation once was a craft that was passed down through an apprenticeship program. Today, there are still many fine installers! Just like carpet cleaners, there are many bad ones. A bad installer does not use a power stretcher! A power stretcher has a large, spiked head that grabs the carpet at one end. Poles attached to this extend across the room providing leverage to stretch to manufacturers’ specifications. The Carpet and Rug Institute standards state a power stretcher is MANDATORY!! A little knee kicker will not do the job. The bigger the room the more force it takes. Shaquille O’Neill could not put enough force on a knee kicker to pull a whole room. Knee kickers are fast but not right!
- The base boards are set too low. – All carpets lose tension over time. The nails on the tack strip are pointed toward the wall. This allows the carpet to move under the wall. As the carpet ages, it tries to relieve pressure but hits the wall instead. Carpet cannot move the wall, so the buckles move the only direction they can. The buckles move back into the room. Buckles will show first in the pivot points.
- Carpet has a flaw in the backing material or latex.– This is very rare! The carpet manufacturers do a pretty good job with quality control these days. Most mill complaints turn out to be maintenance related or installation related. Poor installation or carpet cleaning received may have saved money in the short run, but cost more in the long run.
When carpet buckles occur shortly after cleaning, carpet cleaners often get blamed. This is rare but does occur. Carpet cleaning is the time this pre-existing condition presents itself. It is not the cause. You see, anything put under heat will expand. Your sidewalk, wood floors, door jams, and yes carpets too! Carpet will expand under the heat of hot water extraction. If it is tight on all four sides nothing happens. If it does happen, don’t panic. Your carpet is fine! It just needs to get re-acclimated to its normal environment and will go back down in a couple days.
