This fifth article in a series moves to loop pile carpet, and how you can repair ravels, pulled or missing rows of yarn, burns and other concerns in it.

In the first article of the series, I shared what a student of mine said about learning how to do carpet repair, that he was tired of "walking over money." How many times do you see a ravel, pulled or missing rows of yarn on a berber style carpet? Tons, I am sure. Are you walking over this money, too?

I have spoken to many cleaners and restorers over the years about how they would normally repair a ravel in a loop pile carpet. Some say they would just cut the yarn off. Some say they would take the yarn, twist it around, stuff it back into the row it came from and apply some glue to it. I'm not a fan of either of these.

Others say they use a carpet awl and/or crochet hook to painstakingly reinsert each loop back into the holes it came from and put a dab of glue on each bundle wrap while inserting it. I tell them I sure hope they get paid by the minute, because it will take lots of minutes to do that. Now don't get me wrong, I like getting paid by the minute too, and I do that very same type of repair on a rug or when there is absolutely no donor carpet available. The problem is that you are using a damaged yarn and you will be able to see exactly where you did the repair. It will look better no doubt, but it will still be visible.

Let me teach you a way to repair loop pile carpet that is faster, far easier, and—I guarantee—when done properly, no one will know where the repair is. Called "pile grafting," this repair is like skin grafting, where skin taken from one part of the body is used in another. You will be taking yarns from an uninstalled piece of carpet or piece from a closet or other unique location like under a floor vent and replacing (grafting) the damaged yarns with them.

Just like in bonded inserts, you need to know the lay of the nap of the carpet you are working on. Determining the length and width of a tufted berber carpet is easy. The rows of yarn ALWAYS run the length. All you have to do is determine the nap lay. You recall that I said to use the paper/pencil test or the hand-sweep test. Do the same on this carpet.

Another way I determine nap lay on loop pile carpet is simply by taking my thumb and rubbing it over the loops. When I am pushing the loops in one direction I find the loops can be pushed over or down and when I rub them in the opposite direction they will be pulled up and snap away from my thumb. The nap lay of the carpet is when I can push them down with my fingers. When I am going against the lay of the nap, it is when I am pushing them up.

Also, just like in bonded inserts, you will need extra carpet. Let's hope your customer has leftovers or that the same carpet is installed in a closet. If not, you will have to get creative.

I have performed this repair in the middle of a family room on a seam six feet long and 8 inches wide. The seam delaminated and lost multiple rows of yarn. You might ask, why not just put in a saddle seam? Good question. For this carpet, I would have had to put stay nails on either side of the seam—in a concrete floor. I am always looking for an easier way to do things and driving several dozen nails in concrete (or even a wood floor) is not thrilling to me, let alone easy. And since making this type of repair doesn't involve cutting through the secondary backing of the carpet, the carpet maintains its dimension and does not "oval" on me.

In my next article I will give you detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to perform pile grafting.

If you would like to SEE these repairs being performed with step-by-step written instruction, it is available on two DVD's, one for bonded inserts and one for pile grafting. The set normally sells for $135.00, but subscribers to Lee Pemberton's "CleanTip" can have them at the value price of $95.00.

Trust me, they will pay for themselves with the first or second repair you perform. Now that is a great return-on-investment. Do you think for a moment Lee Pemberton would distribute these articles or handle these DVD's if HE did not think they were of value to you? Contact me directly at mark@mark4floors.com ~ Mark