Stretch n' Steam

For the last year or so, our wall-to-wall carpet has sported some small humps - one in the bedroom and one in the dining room.

These are not sassy Fergie-style humps, but rather, areas where the carpet essentially bubbled up because it was not laid properly.

Now, home improvement type shows frequently mention decorating faux pas such as humped up carpet. They recommend getting said carpet stretched and go on about how it's way cheaper than getting all new carpet. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, clearly, I don't know how to do it myself. So we had to hire someone to do it. We did a Google search and a Yelp search and just ended up with a bunch of carpet cleaning companies, with no mention of whether they do carpet stretching. So, I decided to start by calling the carpet/upholstery cleaning company that my Mom uses and found that they do carpet stretching. Bingo! They also do carpet cleaning, but Aaron felt that he was up to that challenge.

So, before the stretching ensued, Aaron rented a Rug Doctor carpet steamer from Safeway and got to steamin'.

He did a fine job, but as with any steam cleaning, the carpet was a bit damp afterwards. Aaron remedied this problem for himself by wearing plastic bags over his slippers.

Stylish and functional. (My slippers have plastic bottoms, so I didn't need to go the bag route.)

After the carpet was all clean, we had the rug stretcher guy come. He had some fancy tools that pulled the carpet tight. Then he sliced off a thin bit from the edge, reattached it, and made it all smooth and flat. It was $150, and it was worth it.

So now, we have carpet that is clean, dry and doesn't have any lovely lady lumps. Happy day!