(delurk)
I hope someone here can help me out... I came home to a fist sized hole in the carpet today. The dog got bored I guess.... The hole is all the way to the concrete... and we're in an apartment.
Is the lease office going to have top replace the whole room, or can it be patched?
Thanks, n.
(if there's a better group to ask, let me know)
The proper way to fix it would be to replace the whole room. If you could find the exact weight, weave and color of carpet with the same amount of wear and fading, you could patch it and it wouldn't be too noticeable. But you aren't going to be able to do that.
You might talk to the manager and confess. Offer to pay for a patch. They have carpet companies that do their work and they will have the best bet of getting a carpet that will match. Tell them you are willing to live with a patch and they will probably go for it.
Several questions:
Is the hole in a prominent location?
How worn is the carpet in the area immediately surrounding the hole?
How big is the room where the dog chewed the hole?
My thoughts are that any patching effort you make isn't going to make the problem disappear. Here's what you'd need to do to make the repair, followed by why I don't think it'll work:
1) If the hole is 4" in diameter, rake the pile away from the hole in all 4 directions and carefully cut out a nice square to get yourself a true edge.2) Beg, borrow, or steal a piece of pad that matches what the dog ate, if any. Glue it down to replace what was lost. Use contact cement or double sided carpet tape. Also tack down the edges of the adjoining pad so it doesn't wrinkle under your patch.
3) Find an inconspicuous place which has the following two characteristics: a) The carpet matches what was torn up in color, how dirty it is, and how worn it is physically. b) If you cut a patch from this location, the apartment complex won't notice.4) Cut a fill piece from the location you identified in step 3. Cut it exactly to the size of the square hole you created in step 1.
5) Use duct tape or equivalent around the edges of the hole to attach the replacement piece. Make sure you get the pile direction of the replacement piece oriented the same way as what was destroyed.6) Vacuum the area, then spritz the area lightly with water and vacuum again. This may help blend the new and old pile.
7) Stand back and admire the very obvious patch you've created, and realize that the apartment complex will see it too, and probably the place where you took your patch material from. Prepare to pay an outrageous sum for relatively cheap replacement carpet.What would I really do? If the hole is in a small room or hallway, call a local dealer and get them to replace that room with something that is a close match. With apartment grade carpet, you should be able to find something almost identical. When your lease is up, the carpet may not quite match, but you can always tell the apartment complex that it was like that when you moved in. No harm, no foul.
Otherwise, find out how often your complex replaces the carpet and if you're planning on staying there at least that long, throw a rug over the area and make good friends with the super so s/he doesn't stick you with the bill when you move out, since they would replace the carpet, hole or not...
Good luck.
Yes, ask the guys down at the lease office.
Thanks all. Just to clarify, I'm not trying to get away with anything shady, just preparing for what they might need to do (ie, patch or replace the whole room).
We're moving out in July... Got a new house and the dog will be spending time in the basement... Thanks again. n.
depending on how old the carpet is you could have it patched using a piece from a closet it is pretty common to do that if the carpet is pretty old it won't match too well but you should not be changed much for the damage. Contact a local carpet company and they can tell you what can be done.
Wayne
I think the leasing office will have to replace the carpeting. A patch will be noticable.
I had a carpet company repair some cat damage under a few doors, three small patches, about 4 inches in diameter. I had pieces of the original carpet.
The "carpet guys" (illegals working cheap) did a terrible job and the carpet didn't match so it was a double whammy. After a few months during which the carpets were shampooed, the color variation is far less noticeable, but the rotton job the "carpet guys" did, is still terrible. I wish I had just done it myself. The patches they cut are all ragged, they didn't check the direction of the nap, and they super glued them down so I can't get them up.
If you call a carpet company, make sure they send someone who has a clue what they're doing.
You can "dirty" a patch to match the carpet, but you can't unsuperglue a mess, if they make one.
Also, the carpet company never bothered to respond to my complaints.
My suggestion is to see if you can find a piece of matching carpet, cut your patch and see how it blends in, and if it does, just go ahead and tape or glue it in, not worrying about the color variation as much as the fit. The color will conform over time if it's the same carpet.
It's worth a shot to do it yourself, but not to pay a carpet company to do it, IMO.
Hi all,
Had some carpet installed today, including 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and a set of stairs.
Should I have seams on my stairs and in my rooms?
The three rooms were all done with the same carpet. None of the rooms exceed 12' width, with lengths of 16', 13', and 10'. The 16' turned out well, but I quickly discovered that the other two (smaller) rooms were laid using 'strips' of carpet. To me, this seems like a no-no in the carpet world unless you've got a room that is too big. Am I mistaken? I was under the impression that the rooms would be done with 'full' sheets of carpet. Not only that, but it looks like someone mowed my carpet.
On the stairs, there are a couple of spots where the carpet is loose. There is also one tread with a visible seam on it. This seems totally wrong to me...it's in the middle of the tread! Why not cut the carpet and place the seam where the riser/tread meet, or even below the bullnosing?
Finally, these guys didn't put down any cardboard, sheets, etc. to protect my existing floors (it was a wet day outside, and they were tracking it in). They didn't bother to clean up loose fibers after the fact.
Were these guys bad installers or is this par for the course?
Cheers, Dave
"dave snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
What does your contract say they will do? They usually outline things. If it says nothing about piecing OR whole sheets then I would think you are SOL.
Anything that is lose warrants a callback.
As far as seams, contracts usually say seams are not invisible. This keeps PITAs from complaining when they look with a magnifying glass (not saying this is what you did). The seams were invisable on the last job I had done and the contract did say seams are not invisible. It was a HD install.
The HD install referred to above, they even vacuumed the whole rug to get the lose fibers out and the pile laying nice.
Based on my only one experience with installs, obviously they do not compare well.
That's why I chose to have HD do the install. If something was sour I could beat up on them. If they sub-k some bad installer, that is their problem. I could always go there and have someone to bark at. Tell them to pull up purchase history records for some leverage. Not have to settle for excuses that sub-k won't return calls. That is their problem.
I think their installers have incentive to stay on the HD call list. THe lemons get booted. THen again, I've read not so good stories about HD subs too on here.
If you mean that it looks like the grain of the carpet runs in a different direction, well, that's a big problem. Carpet has a grain and any adjoining pieces must have the grain running in the same direction. It'd be a totally newbie mistake for a carpet installer to make, and it seems kind of unlikely. Don't accept the installation, if that's actually what you have.
Seaming carpet in the middle of a room is much less of a problem than seaming on a stair tread, but I'd still prefer not to see any seams if it wasn't a necessity. Since your rooms are all easily done without seams, the only thing that would cause someone to go to the extra effort would be to save on carpet. Then the question becomes, was the installer trying to save you money on the carpet cost, or make himself more money?
Nothing should be loose. The carpet will never be tighter than the day it's put down.
There should never be seams on a tread for a new installation. It will obviously take a lot more traffic and the odds of the seam showing up over time is much higher. Again, check the grain direction on the adjoining pieces.
Some people will put down drop cloths for a carpet installation, but not too many. If it's a wet day, I put out some additional throw rugs at the door and a runner if necessary. Most installers I've had contact with make a quick clean up - it's usually a fairly neat procedure. If there's a fair mess and there's no indication that they'll be picking up after themselves, I mention it.
It's a big course. There's no reason to settle for shoddy work if that is what it is. Where did you find the installer? What do other people say about their work?
R
Another carpet installer came out this morning. He fixed up the minor issues (two places where carpet wasn't firmly attached), and was much more communicative than the last pair.
The installer indicated that there weren't any seams (except for the necessary ones). He said that the lines were a function of how the carpet was stored, and would disappear after a few days with vacuuming. For the stair tread, he indicated that if the 'seam' did not disappear, then they would fix it. Presumably, this would require minimal work (and carpet).
Me being a bit skeptical, he pulled up some of the bedroom carpet and sure enough, there was no seam. Given the claim that these lines will disappear after a few days, I'm satisfied for now.
FWIW, there was no contract other than the cost of the job (labour + materials). So yes, I'm probably SOL if the lines don't disappear. Of course, I haven't actually paid the full amount yet either...
This (mess) didn't actually bother me much, it's just something that I think a professional would do.
The matter of seams should have been discussed when the carpet was purchased, as the total yards could be quite different (seamed vs. no seams).
If the room does not exceed the carpet width then there should be no seams except at maybe a closet. It is normal to place a seam from one carpeted room to the next usually under the door in the middle. It is not normal to see a seam in a new installation. Installers don't put cardboard under the carpet to protect the floor. The carpet pading does that well and I suggest using a very good padding. It is not uncommon after a year or so in some installations to have to go back and restretch the carpet---very easily done with the right tool. My last piece of advice is to save a scrap piece of your carpet in case you ever damage a spot. Using a carpet cookie-cutter (round) device you can replace a spot easily. Also, all professional carpet installers are taught to leave the carpet onsite for a few days before installing so it will acclimate to the new environment which might have prevented the areas you saw that you thought were seams. Hope this helps.
Jdave snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:
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