WHAT IT TAKES
Time: 4 hours
Skill level: Intermediate
Wall-to-wall carpets sometimes develop loose, wrinkled areas, usually due to installation problems. If you ignore the wrinkles, they’ll wear and become permanent eyesores—even if you stretch them later. You don’t have to hire a carpet layer—fix it yourself with rental tools and our instructions. Rent a power stretcher and knee kicker for about $40–$50 (for four hours) at an equipment rental store. Then buy a carpet knife (not a utility knife) at any home center.
You’ll be stretching from the center of the carpet and pulling it at an angle into a corner. So move any furniture that’ll be in the path of the stretch. Loosen the carpet in the corner (Photo 1). Next, set up the power stretcher at an angle across the room. Set the tooth depth on the power stretcher based on the carpet pile depth (Photo 2).
Operate the power stretcher with the lever and capture the excess carpet in the tack strip as you stretch. Use the knee kicker on both sides of the locked power stretcher to help lock the carpet into the tacks. Once the wrinkles are out and the carpet is secure in the tack strip, cut off the excess (Photo 4).
Carpet has to acclimate to interior conditions before it’s installed. That’s especially important if the carpet has been in a cold truck or exposed to high humidity. If it’s installed while it’s still cold or humid, you’re going to have wrinkling problems later on.
Improper stretching during installation is another cause. Some installers lay the pad and carpet and secure it with just the knee kicker. Since the carpet was never really stretched, it’s going to wrinkle after it’s seen some traffic. If the carpet wasn’t stretched during installation, it’s going to wrinkle later.
Make sure the installers allow enough time for the carpet to acclimate and insist that they actually stretch it with a power stretcher during installation.