Category Archives: Carpet Wrinkles

Carpet Wrinkles – Moisture Problems for New Homeowner

Q. Carpet Wrinkles and Moisture Problems?

I just found your Carpet Professor website and have a carpet question for you which you may or may not be able to answer.

Carpet WrinkleWe had our home built two years ago and we selected Shaw’s “Simple Touch” carpet along with an upgraded padding (listed as 8-lb Envirostep).

Since then, we have had several issues with carpet wrinkles where it is bunching up badly in every room and down the hallway. This is not just a small wrinkle we are talking about, this is 1” and 2” inch folds in the carpet.

The builder sent the carpet installers back and they re-stretched the carpets twice within the first year, but they did so without moving out the furniture.

Now that the one-year installation warranty has expired, the carpets are once again badly bunching up in the exact same spots as before! The builder now says it needs to be re-stretched again because “The carpet was installed when it was cold”… but now I am thinking this has to be something more than just a problem with the carpet or pad.

Is it possible there might be a problem with the padding and carpet compatibility? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Alan’s Reply:

I wish I had good news for you. You have a selected a low-quality P.E.T. Polyester builder-grade carpet designed for use in low foot-traffic applications. If you have medium to heavy foot traffic, this could cause your carpet to lose its stretch and develop wrinkles in a hurry.

It’s also possible that the padding height, if over 7/16” may have contributed to the wrinkles, but I suspect that high humidity, a moisture problem or excessive wetness from a poor quality carpet cleaning may have contributed to the problem.

You have little recourse unless you can convince the builder to re-stretch it again at no charge to you. You should also make arrangements to move out all the furniture yourself if they won’t do it as it will help them re-stretch the carpet more effectively.

Meanwhile, save your money and put in a better grade of carpet when you can. I always recommend buying a Nylon Carpet if you want a long-lasting more durable carpet. In the meantime, make sure you don’t have an unchecked moisture problem.

Carpet Wrinkles and Moisture Problems

Check to make sure your gutters and downspouts are deflecting rain water away from your home properly. This is a very common source of moisture problems for homeowners.

If you have a basement or your home is built on a slab, it would be smart to do a moisture test to make sure the concrete is not a source of moisture.

Have the concrete sealed if there is a problem. It’s not too costly to have the concrete professionally sealed. You can even do it yourself for less using Thompson’s Water Seal available at your local hardware store.

Alan aka The Carpet Professor

Follow up:

Thanks so much for the response Alan,

Ironically we had a major moisture problem in the crawl space under the house the first year. (Standing water) and the house was covered with mold.

They removed the mold and sealed the crawl space and now it’s all climate-controlled. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what caused the carpet problems.

The good news is the builder will be coming out to re-stretch the carpet again despite it being 2.5 yrs after build, the bad news is we have to live with a low quality carpet (which I already figured…even with no bunching.

I hate how the pile mats down with the first foot print) so I guess we will suck it up until we have enough money to get all new carpeting in a couple years…. Thanks again!

AbcCarpetPro.com Carpet Professor

Carpet Wrinkles Explained

What Causes Carpet Wrinkles? Top 10 Reasons Explained

What Causes Carpet Wrinkles?  There are many reasons why wrinkles may appear in your carpet.

Carpet needs to be stretched in sufficiently to prevent wrinkles from forming over time.

Carpet Wrinkles Explained

If you have Carpet Wrinkles like this, you need to have it fixed before it gets worse!

If this is the case, a simple re-stretch of your carpet may fix your carpet wrinkle problem and avert any permanent damage to your carpet.

However, your final outcome may depend on the reason why your carpet developed wrinkles in the first place.

You need to figure out what has caused the wrinkles to form, and make sure it doesn’t happen again….

Top 10 Causes of Carpet Wrinkles…
and who or what may be the cause.

Any carpet can develop wrinkles for number of reasons. The #1 main cause is improper installation.

There are many other reasons why your carpet might develop wrinkles and I will explain what those are in this article.

If your carpet is still under warranty, begin your carpet complaint by contacting the retailer where you purchased your new carpet. You want them to come to your home and inspect your carpet.

You need to give the dealer or retailer sufficient time to investigate and come to some conclusion as to the probable cause of your carpet problem.

Hopefully they can figure out who or what may be responsible for your carpet wrinkles. If they fall short and don’t satisfy your concerns then you need to consider other options.

Carpet Wrinkle

Carpet Wrinkles and Moisture Problems?

Cold Carpet Stretching

Carpet is easier to stretch when warm, at least 70 degrees or higher when the backing is more flexible .

Carpet is much harder to stretch-in when it is cold.

If your carpet was originally installed on a cold day or in a cold room, it may not have been stretched in tight enough in the first place.

If your wrinkles showed up quickly after a few hot summer days, then this might be the reason.

Warmer weather allows the carpet backing to relax and that’s when most wrinkles show up.

What Causes Carpet Wrinkles?

Continued