tightening carpet?

[houstonch73]

No, I don't have carpet in my garage but if for the sake of the conversation it MUST be garage related then lets just assume I do.

Anyways, we bought our house about 4 years ago and the seller had new carpet installed and it wasn't very tight. Now its gotten the point of being downright baggy in a room or two. I asked a carpet install guy who does our neighborhood and he wanted $300 a room (and that's if I removed all the furniture). It doesnt seem like it could really be THAT hard. Has anyone done this themselves? Where do I buy the tools needed? Any tips?

 

[Zeke]

You can rent the tools. Watch a couple of youtubes. I've done it and it's not bad. You will need a good edger.

Or find someone that isn't out of his skull on price. If you move all the furniture I'd think 300 for all of it.

 

[hippie2cams]

I don't know if it's still kosher to do this but many moons ago when I was laying carpet in apartments we didn't have a whole lot of time to be perfect on the lay. so if any bubbles or wrinkles showed up in a few days or whatever. we would take a garden sprinkler can and drip just a little water on the floor, wait for it to dry and no more wrinkles or bubbles.

 

[kenfain]

If it were a little loose, then cleaning it would tighten it up. But it sounds like it's past that point. If the seams are good, there's no reason you can't do it yourself. On a re stretch, moving all the furniture out is the hardest part. I haven't seen a YouTube video on carpet stretching, but I'm sure there is one. Personally I'd recommend a power stretcher, it gives more control, and is easier on the knees than a kicker. But you'll likely need both to do a good job. The tools are readily available for rental. Just remember it only needs to be flat, with all the wrinkles out. It's easy to over stretch, with a power stretcher. Just tight enough to grab and hold the tack strip, that's what you're looking for.

 

[Zeke]

Yep, stretcher and kicker is what I was thinking but the edger makes short work of cutting the edge.

 

[Kevin54]

No, I don't have carpet in my garage but if for the sake of the conversation it MUST be garage related then lets just assume I do.

Anyways, we bought our house about 4 years ago and the seller had new carpet installed and it wasn't very tight. Now its gotten the point of being downright baggy in a room or two. I asked a carpet install guy who does our neighborhood and he wanted $300 a room (and that's if I removed all the furniture). It doesnt seem like it could really be THAT hard. Has anyone done this themselves? Where do I buy the tools needed? Any tips?

That guys just giving you a ******** price and is thinking you may just take the bait. We have a 2500 sq.ft. home, and recently had two rooms done, and it wasn't no ways near close to that to lay the carpet. We've also had carpet tightened up, and it was something like $50 per room to do it. That is if the room is cleared out. On a small room, they might use a knee kicker, but on a larger room, they will use a stretcher that butts up against the wall. They will have to pull two walls up to get it off of the tack strips. But it would be stretched and trimmed. With everything out of the room, you are looking at only an hour or two if it's average sized rooms.

 

[Jinks]

I used these people,http://www.creativecarpetrepair.com/http://, for 4 rooms at a lot less than $300. The guy in the video is a national company that uses local craftsmen but keeps close tabs on them. The work was done on time, done well, & followed up with an online survey to see if we were satisfied.

I have no connection with the company other than being a satisfied customer. See if they have anyone in your area.

 

[p_mori7]

Call around !

My parents had a hallway and a bedroom done for $50 (under the table).

 

[kwfloors]

I don't know if it's still kosher to do this but many moons ago when I was laying carpet in apartments we didn't have a whole lot of time to be perfect on the lay. so if any bubbles or wrinkles showed up in a few days or whatever. we would take a garden sprinkler can and drip just a little water on the floor, wait for it to dry and no more wrinkles or bubbles.

That was in the era of jute backed carpets. You can't do that with todays carpets, you will delaminate the secondary backing from the primary and never get the bubbles out. By the way, hot water worked better.

 

[kwfloors]

Yes, your quote for $300 a room is way off unless it is installed so bad you need to start over from the floor up. Get another bid from a certified installer. You can find one at the floorpro.com or find someone to contact.

 

[houstonch73]

thanks everyone. yeah I figured the guy was nuts. gonna shop around some more, call that link posted too.