There are few floor coverings that are as warm, soft and luxurious as wall-to-wall carpeting. However, there are a few issues with carpeting that can mar its look and durability. A carpet bubble is one of these occasional problems. A bubble is an area of the carpeting that lifts above the sub floor. It looks like ridges in the carpet and can shift slightly down when stepped upon. There are two ways to fix bubbles in the carpet—stretching and gluing.
Re-stretching carpet requires a carpet professional to pull up the carpet and padding on one corner of the room. The padding needs to fit tightly against the tack strips around the perimeter of the room. With a power stretcher, the carpet is stretched flat again, pulling out the bubbles. If the carpet has stretched a little farther that it did before, the excess can be cut off with a utility knife. Re-stretching carpet is a more expensive option than gluing.
Gluing a carpet bubble just requires bottle of carpet-seam glue and a large syringe. The carpet and pad are pulled up slightly using pliers. The syringe full of glue pierces the center of the bubble and deposits glue all around. As the syringe is withdrawn, more glue is extruded. When the syringe is empty, the carpet is pushed back down. Something heavy, like a box or books, should be placed on top for at least 24 hours so the glue can set. The bubble will no longer appear in the carpet.
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