Determining A Quality Contractor For Your Carpet Work

Hack & Slash Cartoon: By Troy Johnson

Having a contractor in your home to work can be problematic enough.  Licensing programs can help cut through some of the uncertainty.  Contractor reference services can help as well.  Many businesses screen their employees or subcontractors who work for them as well as provided background checks.  

A carpet contractor however can add even more unpredictable.  In many states a carpet contractor is not required to be licensed.  Some carpet warehouses, retail stores, and other establishments have liberal standards for "qualifying" carpet contractors.  Most of these contractors having a proving job to test them to see if they have the technical abilities to do the job well and work generally well with the customer.  That does not always mean they are subjected to a background or drug test.  

In a down economy those who hire these contractors can be more discriminating and weed out the more problematic installers.  The best attributes of a carpet contractor/installer usually include the following:

1) Clean background as proven by your state's Department of Public Safety or the hiring entity of the contractor.

2) State licensing check if applicable in your area.

3) References checked with recently serviced clients.  Skill comes soon after safety.  Playing devil's advocate-nice guys may be appealing but not deliver a quality installation.  

4) A contractor who can speak clearly and communicate well.  They can understand your concerns and they can communicate potential problem areas anticipated with the work.  An installer who doesn't speak much with the customer before or during the installation then leaves hastily may not be satisfactory.

5) A contractor with a clean cut appearance, professional dress, and a pleasant, serviceable attitude often points to a better potential experience for the customer.  Caring for the "smaller things" may be a good sign of larger things to come.

You should feel comfortable with the contractor who works in your home and around your family.  Hope these tips help you avoid the "Hack and Slash" tandem that sometimes haunt the carpet customer.

Troy Johnson is the owner/proprietor of the Carpet Fix.   See below for more information on work in your home.

Troy Johnson
The Carpet Fix
Carpet Repairs and Installation in the DFW area
214-962-8846

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Carpet Seam Visibility

(Cartoon: Seam Visibility: Copyright 2011 by Troy Johnson)

One issue that has troubled carpet installers and customers alike for many years is the issue of seam visibility.  It is unlikely that a retailer or installer will guarantee invisible seams, though certain carpets lend themselves well to minimal to no visibility when properly constructed.  Seam visibility is most often determined by the skill of the installer, but there are exceptions.  Some carpet seams can be perfectly constructed and be visible due to other factors including natural lighting striking across the seam, and slight variations in the carpet dye from one side of the carpet to the other, normally recognized as "side match" differences in the industry.  

Carpet repairs add a whole new level of complexity to minimizing seam visibility.  Customers who need a carpet area repaired (pet damage, stains, etc), maybe see noticeable differences between the used carpet and the original, unused carpet used to patch the damaged area due to differences in foot traffic on the used carpet, uv exposure, colorfast issues related to cleaning solutions, etc.  

Certain things that are installer related that can make seams more visible in a new carpet installation include the following:

1) Dissimilar carpet fiber characteristics at the seam line include but are not limited to the following:

a) the carpet face fibers being cut through from above or from behind before seam is glued together

b) carpet fibers falling into the carpet glue during the seam, causing "missing" fibers at the seam line or carpet fibers pulling away from the backing after being cut.

c) one carpet edge sitting higher (on the backing) of the other carpet, due to a non-straight cut or one                 carpet edge being forced together too tightly.

d) gaps in the carpet backing due to non-straight cut preparation of the seam, or carpet backing edges not placed closely enough by the installer to recreate the proper seam gauge (spacing between fibers)

e) the gully or space between carpet fibers is not accurately recreated by the installer, leaving the gully space too wide or too narrow, both resulting in more visibility.  

More could be noted on the topic, but this gives you an idea of how seam visibility can be dramatically influenced by the installer.  Quality carpet seams are rarely achieved by the inexperienced and do-it-yourself types.  

Feel free to leave comments on your own insights into what you feel causes seam visibility.  It's an industry hot topic.

Troy Johnson
The Carpet Fix
Carpet Repairs and Installation in the DFW area
214-962-8846

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Carpet Legends: Way Back When

(Cartoon: Back in '49. Copyright 2011 by Troy Johnson)

I was doing a carpet repair last week and the customers' 10 year old girl was completely fascinated.  Her younger brother had stuffed a toy in the bathroom sink drain and someone had turned on the faucet and left it running.  By the time it was discovered the carpet and pad were flooded in a 10' radius that included the adjoining bedroom and most of the hall next to the bathroom.  

Every phase of putting it back together elicited a series of questions from the youngster.  Particularly fascinating was putting the doorway seams back together between hall and bedrooms.  

Sometimes we adults run through the ordinary events of the day and don't pay much attention to the modern advancements in the materials we work with.  Using a hot seam iron to melt the seam tape below the carpet was a very intriguing idea to her.  Relating it to her working with a glue gun made it hit home more.   

Incidentally, the carpet seam tape in the door ways was mostly removable by hand without the use of an iron. This was largely due to a lower grade seam tape with less thermoplastic adhesive, and inconsistent transfer of the glue from tape into the backing.  Ideally, as a sign of a good glue transfer,  it would have been necessary to remove the seam tape by placing the iron on the underside of the thermoplastic tape to reheat the glue before removing.  

Even with less than ideal installations, it is a remarkable thing to quickly and effectively secure carpet seams with the use of thermoplastic seam tape.   And in the back of my mind I can hear a now retired 70 year old former carpet installer telling me how it used to be when he was installing carpet. 

Troy Johnson
The Carpet Fix
Carpet Repairs and Installation in the DFW area
214-962-8846

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Carpet Rowing: What it means

Cartoon: Trash Talking Installer.  Copyright 2011 by Troy Johnson

What is rowing when it comes to carpet?  Rowing is a technique where an installer prepares the carpet edge before seaming.  One alternative is to cut the carpet from the backing side of the carpet.  This is usually done with a metal straight edge.  The problem with this technique is the carpet tufts can be randomly cut if the carpet fibers are accidentally cut through by the extremely sharp razor the installer uses.

In rowing the installer cuts from the fiber side of the carpet.  The installer works to recreate the gauge of the carpet, which is the distance between the carpet tufts.  This space, or gully can be 1/8" of an inch, or less.  Sometimes a bit more.  The installer works from the top running an awl, pen that has no ink in it, or like tool, and works to run the row going in the direction of the length of the carpet.  When satisfied he has opened the row and the row is indeed running true and straight the installer uses a tool such as a top cutter which has a blade that cuts at the base of the carpet fiber.  The idea is to not cut the fiber, and to cut the carpet in such a way to recreate the gauge when two freshly cut edges are placed together for the seam.  If done properly this method of preparation enhances the seam look considerably.

This cartoon deals with a fictional carpet installer wanting to use a spaghetti noodle as his tool to open the row.  Obviously nearly impossible.  Some carpet rows are not tufted directly in a straight line.  This is in berber terms for example could be what was once called a zipper stitch berber, or a berber that has a zig zag pattern in the fiber layout.  All this aside, it would indeed be very difficult to prepare a seam in this manner.

Perhaps there is a trash talkin installer out there who might attempt it.  Best wishes!

Troy Johnson
The Carpet Fix
Carpet Repairs and Installation in the DFW area
214-962-8846

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