If you read our story-time blog on Tuesday you know that a dear friend of ours had the misfortune of waking up to a giant hole in her carpet thanks to her mischievous puppy. Needless to say, she was not happy about the situation and was pretty worried about the toll it would take on her wallet. We were able to put her mind at ease, however, by assuring her that there are budget-friendly ways to fix the issue and that it would not be necessary for her to replace the entire carpet like she thought. You could see the relief wash over her face upon learning this.
If you have an ugly hole in your carpet that you've been avoiding out of cost-concern, know that you don't have to live with it! In less than an hour you can make your carpet look good as new!
Here's what you'll need:
Utility Knife
Carpet Padding
Seam Tape
Carpet Remnant
Staple Gun
Steam Iron
Wet Towel
How you can fix it:
Step 1: Use your utility knife to cut a square section around the hole and remove it. Set this section aside since you will be using it as a stencil in just a moment.
Step 2: Trace the outline of your "stencil" onto your new piece of carpet padding and cut it out with the utility knife. It is important that the padding you use matches the thickness and density of the rest of your padding. Lay the padding into the cut out section and staple it down.
Step 3: Now use your stencil to cut out the piece of carpet remnant you will be using to patch the hole. If you don't have a matching remnant you can always take a section of carpet from a discreet area of your home, such as a closet or from under a piece of furniture.
Make sure your patch fits into the hole seamlessly. It is also important to pay attention to which way your carpet fibers are facing so that they match the rest of your carpet as closely as possible.
Step 4: Once you're satisfied with the size and fit of your patch, set it aside and install your seam tape. To do this, lift up each side of the surrounding carpet and lay the tape down along each edge. 50% of the tape should lay under the preexisting carpet while the other half is exposed to stick to your carpet patch. Once that's done you can set your patch onto the tape.
Step 5: If you're using self-adhesive seam tape you can simply press down on your carpet patch to get it to stick in place. Otherwise, use a steam iron laid over a wet towel and press each side of your patch carefully.
Step 6: Ruff up the carpet fibers a little bit with your hand or a carpet rake and call it a day!
Want to see this process in action? Here are two of our favorite videos showing you how it's done!