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 subfloor. 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 installer stretches the carpet flat again and pulls out the bubbles. If the carpet stretches farther than before, the installer can cut off the excess with a utility knife. Re-stretching carpet is a more expensive option than gluing.
Gluing a carpet bubble just requires a 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 you withdraw the syringe, it extrudes more glue. When the syringe empties, push the carpet back down. Place something heavy, like a box or books, 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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