I remember years ago a student telling me the reason he was taking the Carpet Repair and Reinstallation Technician (RRT) class was because he was tired of walking over money. I had never looked at it that way before because I have been doing carpet repair for over 30 years now.

How much money do YOU "walk over"? In any home or commercial cleaning job, there are ways you could pick up money if you had the knowledge or skill set. Lots of money, I would guess.

I know...you're afraid of cutting and possibly ruining someone's carpet. Trust me, I understand the fear factor-especially in doing anything new-I do not handle change well either. This may sound so trite, but you risk more in cleaning a couch than repairing someone's carpet, just ask Jim Pemberton.

What is the worst thing that is going to happen if the repair is not perfect (perfect to you)? Do it again, you have the tools, make the repair larger! I know I make it sound so easy, well... it is.

If you have never cut carpet before, go get some scrap pieces or sample pieces from a carpet store, take them home and start cutting into them to make some repairs. Practice makes perfect.

There are stages or skill levels of doing carpet repairs: basic, intermediate and advanced. You could get very serious about doing carpet repair and buy the whole shebang, or you could just get your feet wet and start with basic, or what I prefer to call "Out of the Pouch" carpet repairs. These are the "fix-its" type of repairs. No re-stretching, no re-seaming and no "reinstallation," just basic repairs that you can do with just a few tools that would...fit into a pouch.

Here is the list:

• Action/double slotted razor knife
• Utility knife
• Hawk-bill knife
• Pliers
• Duckbill scissors
• Hot-melt glue gun (380 F, 193 C)
• Taylor #886-06 extension nozzle
• Seam groomer
• 20 oz. hammer
• The pouch

Simple and basic tools to do some simple and basic repairs that will make you thousands of dollars for an investment of maybe $100. These tools will also last you a long, long time - you will only need to buy blades and glue sticks on a routine basis.

Now, what kind of repairs could you possibly do with just those few tools? How about a small burn repair, or a pulled row, or snag in a loop pile or berber carpet? You could even do a repair where the cat pawed the carpet at a bedroom door. These are the most common and often "walked over" repairs you see on a daily basis, aren't they?

I find it interesting and not surprising that most of my students in the RRT class are men, when women could actually perform this service much better, with their dexterity and eye for detail. Also note that this is not hard work - if you break a sweat doing this kind of carpet repair, it will be out of anxiety, not physical work.

In my next article I will give you step by step procedures how to do a small bonded insert that could repair a burn mark from a cigarette or spark from a fireplace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Violand started his 32+ year floorcovering career in the cleaning and restoration industry. Let Mark show you how to repair carpet professionally and profitably. His reputation precedes him as Northeast Ohio's "go-to" floorcovering inspector, working for carpet, resilient, wood and laminate manufacturers and floorcovering retailers and distributors, along with consulting carpet installation contractors. He still performs carpet repairs on a regular basis.