You just got your carpets cleaned and your carpets look so fresh and clean. But you noticed an area in your living room that seem to have some wrinkles and rippling now.  You might think that the cleaning has caused this so you end up calling your carpet cleaner and blaming them to come fix this.  But before you go off on the deep end and accusing the wrong people, maybe you need to educate yourself on this problem.  This is a common problem many homeowners have to deal with from time to time. 

Most common reasons:

  • Improper stretching your carpet installers have a huge factor in this.  Carpets have to be installed with the right equipment and proper installation in order for your carpets to lay right to begin with. In smaller areas a knee kicker is used in most cases but in larger areas a power stretcher is a must.  There are no short cut to this but many installers will use the knee-kicker in larger areas to bypass using the power stretcher.  Knee-kicker is much faster and easier on the installer’s body.  If not properly installed the carpets will start to ripple within couple of weeks, a year or two.Simple tip if you do see ripples or buckling in your carpets within that first year, call your carpet installers right away.  They will come back out and re-stretch the carpets at no charge.  After a year you would have to hire a company that specialize in fixing the issue at a higher price. 
  • Wrong padding thickness or density of the padding can cause ripples and buckling.  Always use a professional installer to help guide you through making the right choices.
  • Humidity is one of the biggest culprits. In humid months the air penetrates into the carpets to make the carpets swell.  When the air becomes normal in the room, the carpets may lay flat again.Tip run your air conditioning in the summer months to help with the buckling.  Even running a humidifier will help keep the moisture out of the air so it doesn’t end up on the carpets. 
  • Dragging heavy furniture people do not realize dragging very large heavy furniture or objects across the carpets will damage the carpets and stretch it out.Tip you must always lift the objects and carry it over the carpets without tugging or pulling your carpets. 
  • Wet carpets too much moisture in the carpets is a bad thing.  Heavy saturation on the carpets due to flooding or improper cleaning can cause rippling and buckling.  It’s advisable to hire a professional carpet cleaner to properly remove all the moisture from your carpets. Some machines do not have the power of a truck mounted equipment to remove all the water.  This is one of the reasons we do not suggest cleaning your own carpets with a rental.

You do not have to have rippling or buckling at all, you can ask questions in the beginning of the carpet installations and know what to look for.  Also how to prevent future rippling in your carpets as well. We all want to keep our carpets beautiful for many years to come for our families to enjoy.