How do I take apart a seam?

[Shane T]

I need to take apart 2 seams, one is perpendicular to the other. One of them is in a doorway. I can't really pick it up and use the iron to soften the glue. Do I have other options?
Sorry I don't have pic at this time.

 

[Harry Myers]

The one in the door you will need to get a top cutter . See if you can get in the slice where the seam is cut. Fold it back and melt it off using a iron on about 2 . Peel off the seam tape. On the other seam fold it back and melt it from the back . If the kool -glide was used you could reactive from the top . That is what makes a Kool glide so much more nicer.

 

[Shane T]

Thanks Harry, I'll give it a try. I just ordered the Kool Glide today and am looking forward to using it.

 

[Harry Myers]

Use an awl or a screwdriver. You can use a knitting needle or a top cutter like Middletons. There are many tools you can use to find a row in the carpet. Good luck .

 

[Stevea]

Shane,

Harry's comments are excellent, as usual.

I have also found use of a mini stretcher will allow one to open the seam without much effort and helps most keep from cutting the carpet itself and only the old tape.

You will not usually need to dis-engage the carpet and unless you are going to trim the carpet, you will usually have as good of an edge as the original seam.

Hope this little clip helps to show what I am talking about



SA

 

[Jack May]

Good stuff Steve,

now that I have a mini stretcher, I'll have to use it for that work.

Up till now, I try and feed a small aluminium straight edge under and then stand it up on edge (tricky to say the least) and that gives a similar result.

This would be way easier.

John

 

[Shane T]

Thanks again guys.

Steve, Great tip on the use of mini stetcher. I just ordered one and hope to have it before I start this job. I emailed you about your classes. I see one in Kansas City, do you have plans to be in Milwaukee/Chicago area any time?

 

[Stevea]

Glad you all liked this, I have shared and showed this to a lot of people and everyone always seems to like it. I have found this to be very simple and useful.

One of the easiest seams to get work with is a doorway, they always seem to be in poor shape or damaged in some way. It really does not matter that much what shape they are in if you open them and put them back together with whatever trimming is needed, they don't even have to be very straight because you can manipulate them to fit very well with this tool and system. I did post a clip on a horrible saddle seam but with the mini stretcher it was not that difficult to do. This is an area that a SDN becomes a nice luxuray to have.

Shane, I did not get you message, or was it some time ago? If you email me I will send my schedule to you. I will be in Lorton VA later in the year and Edina MN in Sept. I do not know if these will be closer but if you come to KC and mention you saw it on my web page, you get a Free Knife. (I will try to get you something else as well, just remind me). Let me know if you need more information. (Be sure and let Bert, in KC, know you saw the web page and called off of it, this will get you your knife and ?????????)

A great point to remember in repair work has to do with the overall problem in our industry. Each year Floor Focus Magazine tells us what we already know, Installation is the number one complaint we have and of the installation, SEAMS are the number one problem. If we learn to work on and repair seams, we can have a lot of work. There is a ton of this in the homes we work in, in commercial applications and just in general.

Imagine if we could go out and offer our services to, not install but to correct poorly made seams in general? How about offering our services to retail stores to correct Berber End or Butt Seams that have frays and pulled tufts?

Clearly SEAMS are a major issue and if few people do a good job with them, what if we could?

That is part of the reason this room is potentially so valuable to all of us. Just look at what Harry and John have shown here and shared with us, these guys are doing a great job for all of us and for Mikeysboard in general. Maybe Mikey will give them a raise someday!

SA

 

[Jack May]

I inspected a job yesterday (cold morning and flat camera battery sorry) and she had a 7 year old loop pile, sisal look wool carpet. She was happy with the overall performance of this carpet, and the cleanibility of it, BUT she had 3 of the 5 seams in the home were unravelling along the seam due to a lack of seam sealant.

These people have a large amount of land and so every 5-10 years, they sell another block and build another home and move on. She is in the planning stages of the next and wanted this one repaired so they could sell without replacing all the carpet.

She dropped a comment 'I'd NEVER get this carpet again'... I spent almost an hour with her discussing different options but also showing her and explaining that the problems she has are installation problems and not manufacturer concerns.

If I go back, I'll take photos and show some of the dodgy seams, but this is something I'm getting a lot of calls for that I use to send on to another layer. Now that I've bought a Mini stretcher, I intend doing a lot more of these myself.

Incidentally, she has asked me if I'll take up the remaining seams and redo them all properly... I'm guessing I'll need a SDN to do that properly.

John