A ripple in a carpet tends to arrive slowly. First it is a soft line across the hallway that shows only in low light. A couple of winters later it is a ridge that catches a toe.
The usual assumption is that the carpet is worn out. Often it is not. Ripples are an installation problem far more often than a carpet problem, and many of them can be stretched out. Some cannot, and it is worth knowing which kind you have before spending money either way.
Why carpet ripples
It was never stretched properly. This is the most common cause by a distance. Wall-to-wall carpet is held under tension between tack strips at the edges of the room, and that tension has to be put in with a power stretcher, a tool that braces against the opposite wall and levers the carpet tight. The Carpet and Rug Institute's installation standard calls for power stretching for exactly this reason. A knee kicker on its own positions a carpet but cannot put enough tension into anything larger than a small room or a closet. Carpet that was only kicked in looks fine on the day and relaxes over the next couple of years.
Humidity. Carpet backing takes up moisture from the air and relaxes a little as it does, and the Willamette Valley gives it a long, damp winter in which to do it. A properly stretched carpet has enough tension to ride that out. A marginal one goes slack in the wet months, and that is when people first notice the wave.
Heavy things dragged across it. Sliding a loaded dresser or a sofa pushes a wave of carpet ahead of it. On a carpet that is already short of tension, the wave stays.
The wrong pad. A pad that is too thick or too soft for the carpet lets it flex with every step, and that flexing works the carpet loose over time. It is one of the reasons we specify the pad to the carpet. There is more on that in choosing carpet that lasts.
Over-wetting during cleaning. Carpet sometimes ripples right after a deep clean and settles back down as it dries. If it is flat again within a day or two, that is normal. If it stays rippled, the carpet was already loose.
Delamination. Most carpet is two layers of backing held together with latex. With age, and sometimes after repeated soaking, the latex breaks down and the layers part. A delaminated carpet bubbles and ripples, and a re-stretch will not fix it. This is the one cause that decides the question on its own.
What a re-stretch involves
A re-stretch is a smaller job than a new carpet, but it is not a ten minute visit.
1. The furniture comes out of the room, or moves to one side and then the other. A carpet cannot be stretched with a bed standing on it. 2. The carpet is released from the tack strip along the walls it is being stretched toward. 3. It is power-stretched, usually in more than one direction, until the slack is out. 4. The excess is trimmed. A stretched carpet ends up with spare material at the wall, which is cut off before the edge is tucked back in. 5. Doorways and transitions are refitted, since the carpet has moved in relation to them. 6. Tack strip is replaced where needed. If it has rusted, or has let go of the subfloor, new strip goes in.
Done properly, the ripples do not come back, because the thing that caused them has been corrected.
When a re-stretch is the right call
A re-stretch makes sense when the carpet has years left in it and the ripples are its only real problem.
- The pile still stands up in the traffic lanes, rather than lying flat and gray.
- The backing is sound, with no delamination.
- The seams are tight.
- There is no pet damage in the pad.
Do it sooner rather than later. A ripple is a trip hazard, particularly on a landing or in a hallway, and particularly for anyone unsteady on their feet. It is also a wear line. The ridge takes more abrasion than the carpet around it, and a ripple that has been walked on for years can leave a permanent crease even after the carpet is pulled flat.
When the money is better spent on new carpet
- The backing is delaminating. Lift a corner in a closet. If the mesh backing peels away from the carpet easily, or there is powdery residue between the layers, the latex has failed. Stretching it may tear it.
- The traffic lanes are worn out. If the hallway is matted and gray, a re-stretch gives you a flat, worn-out carpet.
- It is near the end of its life anyway. Paying to re-stretch a carpet you were going to replace in a year or two is money spent twice.
- There is a smell in the pad. Pet accidents go through the carpet into the pad and the subfloor, and pulling the carpet tight changes none of that. Our pet-friendly flooring guide explains why replacing the carpet alone does not fix it either.
- The carpet is too tight to the wall already. Occasionally a past repair has left no spare material at an edge or a seam, and there is nothing to work with.
If it does come to new carpet, what carpet installation costs in Oregon shows where the money goes. The pad and the stretch are the two lines most often thinned to hit a price, and they are the two that would have prevented the ripples in the first place.
How to check it yourself
Ten minutes will tell you most of what you need to know.
- Look at the traffic lanes in daylight. Is the pile standing, or flat?
- Lift a corner inside a closet and look at the back of the carpet. The backing should be firmly attached.
- Find out how old the carpet is, if you can.
- Note where the ripples are and which way they run. Ripples across a whole room point to a stretch problem. One bubble in one spot can be something else.
- Check whether it changes with the seasons. Worse in winter and better in summer points to humidity acting on a loose stretch.
How we handle it
We do carry out carpet re-stretches. It is worth saying plainly that they are not our main business, because new flooring is the bulk of our week, and there is a minimum on any job. So call us first and describe what you have: the room, roughly how old the carpet is, and where the ripples are. If you are weighing a re-stretch against a replacement, we will give you an honest read on which is the better use of your money.
If we installed the carpet, call us in any case. Every install carries a ten year labor warranty, and our carpet is power-stretched, not kicked in.
Norman's has been flooring houses on Portland's Westside from Newberg since 1978. The showroom is at 900 Industrial Parkway, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and the number is (503) 538-8242. If the carpet turns out to be past saving, book a free estimate and we will bring samples to the house.
