Carpet coming away at doorways!

[Mudonstairs]

Any carpet fitters/savvy people able to help?

I know I am going to sound so stupid here but I am a first time homeowner and bought this house 3 years ago. I know nothing when it comes to DIY! DH is quite handy but he just gives things a go rather than actually having any DIY knowledge, so together we are trying to get by 😂 I am trying to make our home look better without spending any money as we are so skint at the moment.

We have carpets going up the stairs and the upstairs hallway but I’ve found the carpet is lifting where the doorways are, underneath the bar part. I have googled it and it just says to push it back under the bar but this doesn’t seem to be a great solution as it’s just masking the problem because every time I hoover the same thing happens. I’ve already set the Dyson to the least suction mode so it’s not attacking the carpet too heavily but it’s not helped. It’s really bad near DC’s bedroom and I’ve had to use gaffer tape because some of the carpet gripper spikes are poking through and I don’t want them to hurt DC when he’s barefoot or playing. I hate the gaffer tape but can’t leave grippers poking through!

Am I just going to have to accept this new scruffy look for a few years until we can save up for new carpets, or would there be a proper solution to this?

You can buy wider bar strips. A wider strip would secure it more. It's a simple fix.

Thanks. I will look for wider bar strips. Although, I am a bit nervous about taking the current bars off as they are the original wood ones that go with all the doors in the house (old house) 😬

A wider bar strip sounds good for you.
I'm contemplating gluing down the piece that keeps slipping on our stairs. The grippers have shredded the back of the carpet, so there isnt much to grip.

Thanks. Yesss! This is what has happened to ours. Carpet has basically disappeared where the grippers are that’s why I’ve had to put tape there. Now the challenge will be to find new bar strips that aren’t going to look odd as the current ones are a dark stained wood, same as all the doors!

Another stupid question, how do you actually remove the bar strip? It’s wood so there are no screws or anything. I’m worried we will damage them when lifting them and if the new ones don’t fit/work then we will be stuck with none at all!

I’ve added a photo to explain what I mean. Are these bars even able to lift and replace?

Buy new ones first. You might need to stain to the correct colour. Then put something under the strip and force it off. I'd try at one end first.

Ah right, well if I need to buy new carpet first, then I will just have to embrace the gaffer tape look for a few years until we can afford it 😂

No buy new strips. Not new carpets.

Oh, gotcha!

Has whoever fitted the carpet put gripper strips under the doorway?

I can’t say for sure exactly what the carpet fitters have done as the carpet was here when we moved in 3 years ago. I believe there are grippers there though because some of the spikes are coming through at my DC’s bedroom doorway.

Oooh, I hope I caught you before you did anything.
Those wood beams are thresholds and not bars or plates. The carpet is not going underneath but, if its fraying, will have gripper in front. I 100% would NOT suggest taking them up until you want new carpet, the gap will be too big to cover even with wide plates.

To fix, you could get an installer to restretch the carpets and refix it. DIY you have 1 easy option.
The easy way would be a can of spray adhesive, peel the carpet back carefully, put a light amount on the gripper and underlay(about 5cm altogether) wait 2mins for it to dry then with all your push from 50cm away the carpet towards the door(hands in fists, use ball of hand) then push the carpet back into the gap of gripper with a screwdriver.

Thanks so much for your helpful reply. I was looking at the bars thinking I actually don’t want to take them off because it looks like doing that would damage them and then if the new wider ones aren’t compatible we will be without!

Thanks for your instructions. That might work on the carpet I have uploaded the photo of and for the rooms where
its only slightly coming away. My photo is actually one of the better rooms so it may work for that. I don’t think that is going to work for the one over DC’s threshold as a lot of the carpet has frayed and worn away at that edge unfortunately.

Just seems so uneconomical to replace the entire hallway and stairs carpet because of one little frayed bit when the rest of the carpet is in good condition. We have had a few quotes and it’s around £3k, which is so unaffordable right now! For time being I will try what you said on the other rooms and leave the gaffer tape on for DC’s bedroom until we can afford the new carpet.

If it's any help, a lot of carpet places offer finance

Oh, I didn’t know that so thanks. I still think we will hold off as long as we can, as we are trying to pay off debts and still paying off a lot of our furniture which we bought on finance when we moved in! We earn well but most of our earnings go on mortgage and all these finance/debts each month. Cant wait to be free from it all!

@Mudonstairs we are in a similar position. We've recently bought and currently have bare floors, as we can't afford new flooring and everything else at the moment!

Super helpful reply @abbeyflooring im having similar issues and was wondering what to do! Thanks so much.

Hope we both get it sorted OP!

Oh, that really sucks! Hopefully we can all save up and chip away at our debts and once mortgage rates come down we will be a bit more comfortable soon 🤞🏼

Glad I’m not the only one having this problem as I thought I was asking a really dumb question 😂 hope yours gets sorted soon!

Even worse @Mudonstairs I got this carpet put in and I don’t think they did a good job and I just hoped it would be fine 😬

Oh no, is it too late to call the carpet fitter back?

Mental note taken for when we have new carpets. If I’m not happy I’ll tell the carpet fitter asap! I would usually be the same as you and not say anything, then be kicking myself 😬

Sadly yes, I prevaricated for a couple of years… 😬

You can buy the carpet fitting tool from Amazon for about £25. That will stretch the carpet by a few mm which will mean there's more of it to grab onto the spikes. There are plenty of youtube tutorial videos showing how you use it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Carpet-Knee-Kicker-Stretcher/dp/B07JR1BC67/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=HZ7OG0OPJORY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.H0YfzXmQrDgdIOT2UiGU4jKxhHaIq1k6DYNElRp7EaJKtWthzdpUjodas6OLyPWPJjKrm9tK_LT2NV3doiolN17WqLCTA88Q110nL7gkBj-AGxyiDYTPmssZLseGUFIS2Hqh_mSZEwse6IE-jO1sS2nSKB-T2o69ZBQb8SW1TNIV-ryowK66rgrjcta_DRUNHNygAFosQDKFEKyLxPPTRgq7xN71_NVRJJqUCBiU95NU-9OUmw_c-dButHr8lFTGTbzfd3xV14x6f5R0bJJSyfvqSIxMur0-Q4E5ZDEvS7I.-a-nuJmP6EQBwHTwn5iaeEiHjgsyqbspNB_p2RBOKGQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=carpet+stretcher&qid=1711363437&sprefix=carpet+stretcher%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Alternatively, get some strong double sided adhesive tape or some glue to put under the carpet to stick it down.

This is v helpful @taxguru ! Thank you.