What to do about carpet wrinkles

A carpet that starts to get "wrinkles" isn't necessarily aging. It's an indication that there's too much carpet in an area. The wrinkles don't get smaller or go away. They grow until the problem has been rectified.

Carpet wrinkles can show up in a new or old carpet. Sometimes they show up after a carpet cleaning. According to industry experts there are three main causes of carpet wrinkles. Carpet cleaning is not one of them. If you're wondering why they may show up after a cleaning, think of this comparison. Imagine you bought a new shirt. It looked great the first time you wore it but after it was washed it was very wrinkled This isn't true of all your shirts. Some are prepared to be wrinkle resistant, while others are disasters. Carpeting needs to be prepared to resist wrinkles too. The ones that aren't can develop wrinkles just like your shirt. The main cause of carpet wrinkles is lack of preparation, called power stretching. Properly preparing and maintaining a carpet avoids creating wrinkles. Adding water to a carpet can trigger a pre-existing problem.

THREE MAIN CAUSES OF CARPET WRINKLES

1. Improper initial installation
2. Improper moving of furniture
3. Natural or Normal wear and tear

Improper Installation: When a carpet wrinkles within the first 2-3 years it's likely to be from improper installation. The most probable cause being that the carpet was never "power stretched". New carpet is stiff and should be power stretched. If it isn't then over time the carpet starts to loosen and relax, causing wrinkles.

Improper moving of furniture: Moving furniture frequently by pushing & sliding, without picking it up, or emptying out the drawers to lessen the load, causes stetching. The carpet gets pushed & pulled in ways it wasn't meant to be. 

Normal or Natural Wear and Tear: Natural wear and tear means just treating your carpet as it was meant to be. You vacuum it when it's dirty, properly move furniture over it & clean it periodically (yearly for most people). This is the natural way most people care for their carpet. Some people don't realize they need to treat their carpet in this manner.

When you buy a carpet and your salesman tells you that your carpet is guaranteed for life, they usually don't tell you that the life of carpet is said to be 8-10 years ( Based on manufacture warranties). Carpet can last a lot longer than that. So even when you care for it normally, over time naturally the latex on the backing starts to break down. The latex is what keeps the carpet nice and tight. When this happens the carpet loosens and again you get to the point of simply having too much carpet in the room causing wrinkles. 

If you have wrinkles in your carpet then it is time to stretch your carpet. When you first notice wrinkles in your carpet you should get your carpet stretched.

THREE REASONS TO STRETCH YOUR CARPET RIGHT AWAY

1. Delaying the carpet stretching job can lead to permanent damage. It may never lay flat again.
2. Over time as people step on the carpet and it wrinkles it will start to crack and then rip.
3. It's easy for people to loose their balance and fall over the wrinkled area.

A carpet repair man can do this by removing the carpet tacks on the ends of the carpet and stretching it out again. Often times it must be cut at the edges to remove the wrinkles. This process can be just as intensive as first installing the carpet depending on whether furniture has to be moved.