How Much Does Carpet Stretching Cost: Understanding the Process

Lumps on the carpet are a tripping hazard in your house

What should you do in this situation?

Stretching your carpet is a reasonable choice if replacing is too expensive for you at the moment. But how much does carpet stretching cost? What should I know about this process? We will discuss how much carpet stretching costs and all the related information about this topic in this post.

Let’s get started!

What causes your carpet to become worse over time?

Unlike hard floors like tiled floors or wood floors, carpet is a soft material that can be damaged easier and become bad quicker. The heavier foot traffic in the house, the faster your carpet goes bad. Especially if you have pets in the house, their claws can scratch the carpet. Dragging furniture also makes the carpet dislocated bit by bit.

Over the years, these damages slowly make your carpet lose its quality. This is a natural process that you can’t avoid. Wear and tear appears the carpet loosens, and lumps pop up. It becomes harder to place furniture because the floor is uneven, and you can trip over the lumps on your carpet.

How Long Does A Carpet Last?

Depending on your carpet material and how heavy the foot traffic is in your household, the time may vary. But the average number is ten years. Your carpet won’t suddenly become bad, you can see the appearance slowly change. There will be a time you realize your carpet is no longer in good shape and you have to do something about it.

➜ RELATED: How Long Does a Carpet Last - A Complete Carpet Maintenance Guide

The important part is, how?

Replacing or installing a new carpet is the quickest way to restore your house's luxury appearance. But that is never an easy task for everyone. The budget for new carpet installation is expensive and you may not have the money for that right away. What else can you do to make the lumps disappear so no one will trip on the carpet?

This is where carpet stretching comes in.

What is carpet stretching?

When your carpet is loose and full of lumps which makes it not pretty and dangerous for walking, stretching can make your carpet become more even. It won't absolutely look brand new again, but it can keep your carpet last longer while you prepare for a new carpet installation.

There are services that provide professionals for carpet stretching. First, they will come to your house to estimate your carpet condition to calculate the price and let you know the required preparation for stretching. While stretching your carpet, they will use a big hairbrush-like tool to even out the carpet to remove as many lumps as possible.

Carpet stretching is a method you can use to make your old carpet last a bit longer

Before stretching the carpet, they will require you to move some furniture out of the way so that the process can be smooth. Not all the furniture should be moved but basically the clearer the floor is, the easier it is to stretch your carpet. People from the service will give you specific instructions on this aspect after estimating your carpet condition.

Stretching can include small carpet repairs in the process. Some companies will combine the carpet stretching cost and the carpet repair cost, some will do it for free if the damage is not serious, while some will charge you separately. You should ask about this clearly before choosing a company to help you with stretching your carpet.

Is it possible to do carpet stretching at home?

Technically speaking, stretching the carpet is not a very complicated process. The biggest requirement is that you need to be patient staying on your knees to smoothen out the carpet. That is why many people think it is okay to pull it off at home without the help of any service. That would save quite a cost to stretch carpet, right?

However, it is not recommended to do carpet stretching yourself.

First of all, the tool used in carpet stretching is hard to rent, and you wouldn’t want to spend money buying a tool you won’t use again in years, right? Secondly, you will get serious knee and back pain after hours of crawling on the floor. Last but not least, you may accidentally damage your carpet during the process due to a lack of experience.

All of those reasons are pretty convincing to not try stretching your carpet at home. According to the survey, more than 90% of people who try stretching carpets themselves decided to call the service afterward. Some cases are unfixable, even to the professional because the customer damaged the carpet while trying to stretch it.

It is possible to reduce carpet restretching costs by doing it yourself. But all the labor work and the danger of ruining your carpet are really not worth the money. Unless you are an expert that has working experience in this field, you shouldn’t try stretching the carpet yourself.

How much does carpet stretching usually cost?

We talked about why you should not try stretching the carpet at home and you can clearly see that it is not a good idea. Now it is time to move on to the biggest question: how much does carpet stretching cost?

There are two main factors that will affect the price of carpet stretching: how large your carpet area is and how many years you have had your carpet.

It’s understandable that the larger your carpet area is, the more money you will have to pay for the stretching service. Some companies decide the price on the number of rooms that have carpet you need to stretch, while some use square feet measurement of the total carpet area to calculate your bill.

An old carpet requires a more delicate stretching method and repairing. That is why the price can be higher than average. If your carpet is too old, and the damages are too serious that it is not possible for stretching, then you will have no other choice than to replace it with a new one.

Carpet stretching is a great way to save money when you can’t have a replacement yet

The average cost of carpet stretching can range from $40 to $80 if you only do a single room. For the entire house, it can cost you $120 up to $350. Remember that the actual price can be higher or lower depending on your personal condition. Just hope that your carpet is still in acceptable shape so you don’t have the only choice which is to replace it.

What is the benefit of carpet stretching?

Since we have known about the cost to stretch carpet, we should also know the benefit of this process.

• Ensure safety:

The uneven floor with lumps of an old carpet is a tripping hazard for everyone, especially children and the elderly. Stretching your carpet will make the surface more smooth which will prevent accidental trips and falls in the future.

• Increase the carpet lifespan:

Instead of installing a new carpet, stretching the old one will make it last longer and you can use it until it is truly worn out. That is a smart way to save money on taking care of your home.

• Improve your house appearance:

Since using carpet is a way to make your house look nice, it is not okay to have old carpet with lumps all over it. That condition will make your house look shabby. Once you have stretched the carpet, your house will instantly look so much better.

Conclusion

Carpet stretching is a good way to preserve your old carpet before you have the chance to install new ones. There are three main things about this process that you need to remember for the best result:

• Treat your carpet gently, and do maintain it thoroughly:

Let the carpet bear the least foot traffic you can. Fix any damage right away. Clean your carpet thoroughly. Even out the small lumps the moment they show up. In short, keep your carpet in a good condition for as long as you can to prevent stretching too soon.

Taking good care of your carpet is a way to keep it in a good condition longer

• Always count on a professional to stretch your carpet:

Stretching carpet at home by yourself can only lead to a bad ending (most of the time, that is). To truly save money, it is best to hire the professional service of stretching carpets. Even if your carpet is too worn out to stretch, at least you won’t waste a bunch of time and effort stretching it without no result. Let the professional do it for you.

• The age of your carpet and the area of it affect the restretch carpet cost:

Remember that the older and larger your carpet is, the higher the price will go. You can choose to stretch the carpet in your house room by room if you can’t afford to pay for the whole house. You can also try to smooth out the small lumps first to reduce the cost a bit if you want to.