[daniel b]

Had a customer just message me saying we have shrunk there carpet, we cleaned the carpet 10 days ago seems a long time to wait, also its just the bit of carpet come away from the door strip its moved about an inch from the strip.

My question is how easy is it to repair if at all, i would imagine its fairly simple to repair its just ive never had to actually do this before.

Thanks

[mark_roberts]

What type of carpet?

Looks like  one of those wool and jute face woven types which I would not have wet cleaned.

Might be able to stretch otherwise get the insurance out.

[daniel b]

Im hoping it will just stretch back to the strip,  think probably best sending a carpet fitter to sort it out.

[stuart_clark]

they are a very tight weave and is unlikely to go back but i might be wrong

[gwrightson]

I would have thought a door strip that is wider would do the trick,

Suggest  this , not saying the customer will accept it but worth a try, 


Geoff

[daniel b]

Good idea Geoff if it won't stretch back quite enough hopefully they will except a slightly wider strip fitted as you say.

Thanks

I would have thought a door strip that is wider would do the trick,

Suggest  this , not saying the customer will accept it but worth a try, 


Geoff
[/quote]

[Adam Eastman]

Do you know what fiber the pile is made from? From the picture it looks like a sisal product to me. I have no experience of cleaning as of yet (booked on a couple of courses over coming months) but i have sold and fitted a fair bit of this product, and if it is sisal, and has been wet cleaned, this would be the cause of shrinkage I would suggest.

If it was dry cleaned then it could be other localized factors which have caused the shrinkage. For example if it has a gel backing and has not been fully stuck, the plate used in the picture is not adequate to hold the flooring in situ. 

Other factor to possibly think about, if it is Sisal and has been glued all over, there will be little to no chance of being able to re-stretch back into plate. 

[daniel b]

not to sure of the carpet fibre it wasnt actually me who cleaned the carpet, i have asked my employee who done the job and he cant remember.

We cleaned the  stairs and a large landing and its only shrunk in that one area seems a little strange to me, the landing had 5 door ways and the carpet hasnt moved from the other door strips, the carpet is in a bad state we could not get every stain out and its badly worn in areas as its an old carpet so a bit of me is wondering if the customer has pulled at the carpet to remove it from the  door strip in the hope that i will pay for a new carpet for them.

I have no problem in sorting the problem for them im just a little wary of if we have actually even caused this to happen.

[Steve Chapman]

If the carpet is sisal and has been wet cleaned then its highly probable that is what has caused the shrinkage.

If thats all thats happened then you've been lucky........ it may be worth having your employees trained to recognize different carpet types, otherwise next time could be costly......

Sisal is difficult to stretch back into place,  I would probably go with a wider threshold bar myself............

[Adam Eastman]

Unfortunately the only way to resolve this issue is visit the customers property to clarify what fiber the pile is made from. Looks to me like sisal, which if wet cleaned, I would suggest the cleaning method used was incorrect.

Out of curiosity, when a job comes in , do you visit the property first, do the inspection, quote and write out a job sheet for the employee whom will be completing the work? Or does your employee go out, quote for the job and if price is acceptable complete the work there and then?

Adam

[daniel b]

My employee has been on training courses over the years ashbys being the last one but that was probably 5 years ago, i might get him on the cleansmart one in February just to touch up his skills, hes been cleaning carpets for us for 7 years and this is only the 2nd time something like this has happened so i cant moan too much.

He normally just arrives to quote and then would clean there and then or book them in for fututre date.

[Adam Eastman]

2nd time in seven years isn't to bad, we all make mistakes at the end of the day.

The only point I would add to my earlier posts,  if it is Sisal, I wouldn't be surprised if once fixed in the doorway, you may still get further complaints down the line if unlucky. Either further shrinkage, I have also known Sisal to grow/expand when soaked, and also water marks may become apparent over time.

Fingers crossed though its just the one doorway that gives an issue.

[daniel b]

Yeah fingers crossed, its been 11 days now since the carpet was cleaned so hopefully theres no more shrinkage.

[tony bish]

If that is a threshold and not a doorbar then the chances are there is no gripper in front of it and it has been stuck with glue instead  especially if it is a concrete floor .A door bar will have teeth to keep carpet in place whereas a threshold doesnt .Thresholds are designed to either have gripper in front or people screw them over the top of the carpet .It does seem a little thread bare at edge so would make me think it was like that before albeit not so bad.Are you sure that is sisal as sisal doesnt normally go thready at edges like that . Of course I may be wrong as picture is not great .

[daniel b]

Hi Tony, im not sure what the carpet is to be honest my lad cant remember as it was 11 days ago now and hes done quite a bit of work since then.

Im just hoping it will stretch back near to the doorbar/strip, if it doesnt then hopefully they will be happy with me fitting a wider door strip.

[mr muzzy]

that looks like its been out a few times ,its all frayed at the door bar

[tony bish]

Agree with Muzzy on this ..looks like its been in and out more times than a fiddlers elbow mate .
Carpets usually shrink uniformly not like that ,it looks to be very very worn imo .Not saying cleaning it has`nt made it worse but the problem was their in the first place .If it is a threshold and to be honest cant see pic that well and without going into do`s and dont`s  ,it will take more than an extra wide door bar to fix problem .I think the problem was inherent .

[Hilton]

It's a flat weave , warp and weft construction  carpet and shrinkage like this is common when over wet, your cleaner worked a little harder on it on the traffic area, over wet it , I am confident it will not stretch back the carpet will just pull apart.
I would Just do the right thing and offer a cash settlement or involve your insurance and get it replaced.

[daniel b]

The customer was supposed to be getting back to me last night to arrange for a carpet fitter i have sorted out to pop there and try and sort it for me but the customer hasnt got back to me.

To be honest ive been a little suspicious from the start something didnt feel quite right, my lad also mentioned after the clean they were trying to get extra areas cleaned for free and moaned about a couple of things and wanted money knocked off.

Im wondering/hoping they were just trying it on hoping i would send a cheque out without questioning it, as soon as i said to them can you give me a day and time that would be best to send the fitter there his attidude kind of changed and he just said i will get back to you this was sunday night.