Just can't figure it out. This is the 2nd new wall to wall carpet to "wrinkle".
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We bought a manufactured house, and had it set on a full basement about 15 yrs. ago, now. The original carpeting had a major wrinkle, right down the middle, within the first four years. It was not of very good quality, even though we upgraded, and took the best they offered. No big deal! The next wall-to-wall we purchased from a retail carpet store, and had it installed. It was their best quality, and it did the same thing. It was still under warranty, so they came back, and stretched it even further. Guess what? It's worse, and there are, now, several more "wrinkles"! If there was moisture getting trapped, coming from our basement, that might explain it, but there isn't. The 2nd rug was professionally cleaned, only once, and I made sure the carpet cleaning professional knew to be extra cautious about pulling excess moisture out, in the process. The rug looked great. Within a year, it started happening, again. We are baffled!
9 answers
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wondering if they installed new "tack" strips when the did the install. I just demo'd some from a condo remodel I'm working on as we are going to install tile. There were at least 3 versions of tack strip dating back to who knows when. Stretching a carpet will normally fix these provided the tack strips can still "grab" the carpet.
KMS Woodworks
on Jan 29, 2013
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Tack Strips are something I would think about as KMS Woodworks said, but another issue that can cause this is the padding underneath. Many people use a thick pad under the carpet particularly on a basement or cement floor. Done in an effort to help keep the floor warmer and the feel more plush. What happens when you walk on the carpet with thick pads is you continually stretch the carpet as it is compressed into the pad. Over time that continued stretch adds up until you begin to see a wrinkle and bump. Add water. As you have the carpet cleaned your adding hot steamy water, This softens the fibers of the carpet so it can stretch even more. Your bigger issue is that your getting to a point in time where you can not continue to stretch the carpet as it will begin to tear. And most carpet people will either refuse to do this or will not warrant the carpet from damage. lastly. I would seriously look into a different type of floor such as tile. I understand the cold feeling, and that can be corrected by installing heat under the tile, or using larger area rugs that can be taken up and cleaned. Carpet placed on below grade floors is a petri dish for mold, bacteria and dust mites to name only a few. While you may think your floor is dry, and you may even had placed a "special pad" to prevent moisture the fact remains the floor is damp. It does not have to be "wet" to be a concern. This is even more important for families with small children. You need to remember that kids are in a different breathing zone as us adults. They always have their faces laying on the carpet when they play with their toys. The result is picking up all sorts of illnesses as a result of what ever the carpet is holding. Ear infections are common issue. Often caused by dust mites and the bacteria that they carry. So my opinion is to forget about the carpet stretching and think about another floor type. You can place click and lock flooring down, not my first thought, but anything solid other then carpet as a professional in environmental work is suggested and is better then what you now have.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jan 29, 2013
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We have had the same thing happen in our house. My cousin came in and restretched the carpet to get rid of the wrinkles and assess the install.
Gail Salminen
on Jan 29, 2013
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Thanks for your quick response. There were new tack strips used when the carpet was first installed, but I never thought the problem might be the padding. It was , also, the best they had. In any case, I think we are switching to a laminate floor. Area rugs will look nice, too.
Patsy Shomers
on Jan 29, 2013
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When installing the laminate floor, understand that if this is a basement and you get any water leaks, from outside, leaking hot water heater or broken washer hose, it will need to come up to dry out. Even if you have a plastic sheet down as a vapor barrier. The only way I would suggest that you use something other then solid vinyl or tile floor is to use a product such as Subflor www.subflor.com This product raises the floor about one and a half inch and its plastic base resists moisture should this occur. The panels run around $6 each for a 2x2 panel. Not cheap, but way less expensive should you have a water loss requiring you to pull up the floor just put down.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jan 30, 2013
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I should have been more specific, in my first comment, in saying that all this fuss has been on the 1st floor of the house. I mentioned having a basement, only because the majority of manufactured homes do not have one. It was suggested, when I inquired about the "wrinkle" problem, by the carpet store people, that the problem was possibly being caused by having no basement under the house. When I told them we do have a basement, they were baffled about the cause of "wrinkling" too. The laminate flooring will be going throughout the main floor. All these problems have been happening on the main floor, not in the basement. .
Patsy Shomers
on Jan 30, 2013
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I would not use laminate flooring at all. Either go the extra mile and get a Solid REAL hardwood floor or go with tile (ceramic, porcelain, granite ...) I have yet to see a laminate floor more than 3-4 years old that did not look like crap. Yes then are cheaper to install but given the long term costs Real wood is far cheaper. I have worked on some hardwood floors that were 80 to 100 years old. Consider the long term cost of installing 10 laminate floors (I'm being very generous with a 10 year lifespan for laminate) and that cost would be much much greater than the installation of 1 real wood floor. From the "green" angle real wood is better too. considering that laminate can not be refinished as they are plastic on top. When worm or damaged laminate are Land fill fodder. A real wood floor can be refinished over and over and then when this is not longer an option it can be composted or used as firewood etc.
KMS Woodworks
on Jan 30, 2013
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Patsy, Carpet being located in the basement 1st floor or attic has no bearing on it stretching as it is. They at the carpet store are looking for excuses because of the failure of their products. To address your concerns about the other issues that I commented on you should be fine using another floor over the sub-floor already in place. To address the type of flooring your using, I would agree with Kevin at KMS about the laminate. Although I do not agree with the life of the product, it does tend to look cheap and tends to be colder. Something you will need to address if your going from a carpet floor to a floating type or tile. You need to determine how long you plan to live in this home before you spend any serious money on upgrades. If your planning just a few years, then laminate with some area rugs is the way to go. Longer, then I would look into doing a solid hardwood floor. Price is about the same as the high end laminates but will last many more years. The floor feels more solid and the rooms tend to be more inviting as well.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jan 30, 2013
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In the tile option an electric radiant underlayment is a great way to curb the cold toes. I've done a handful of these. Warmly Yours is one brand and Sun Touch is another. I have installed both. I used Sun Touch in my master bath and when the barefoot middle of the night calling come it is pretty nice feeling the warmth.
KMS Woodworks
on Jan 31, 2013
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