It's Friday ... But I'm Sure You Already Realized That.

This past week we were kept busy with some pretty intense orders from our regular customers. To who, we thank profusely! I usually take the time to "thank" our walk-in customers, yet I don't take the time to "thank" our regular customers. The truth is we would not be in business without them. We sincerely appreciate every piece of carpet (or carpet base) that comes in to DWP Carpet Binding. I learned in my Principals to Entrepreneurship class that most business won't make it three years, very little will see a profit before five years and you're lucky to make it to a seventh year.

DWP Carpet Binding proudly started it's EIGHTH year in business! The end of October/ beginning of November marks our anniversary. Granted Dan has been doing business with the same people for over 15 years, however, not under his name. The loyalty his customers have shown us is what has kept us in business and for that, we are truly grateful!

THANK YOU!!

To all of our loyal customers. 

With your business DWP Carpet Binding has defeated the odds of business success.

We will continue to provide the great service and quality workmanship that you and your customers deserve!

This week, we were given two pieces of carpet from a walk-in customer. One piece was a small woven rug in which the fringe was destroyed by a hungry dog. Believe it or not, hungry pets are usually the cause for a carpet that needs repairs done (so, for those of you who are wondering if you need to get rid of your pet, the answer is "no" , they are perfectly normal)! After assessment of the best way to repair the carpet and allow for longevity we got to work!

Before picture: woven area rug to be repaired.

Before picture: A hungry dog went to town on this one!

If you notice, there is a white perimeter. That is latex. Using latex on the perimeter of this carpet is going to give it a stable edge, which will allow for durability & longevity, preventing another repair any time soon!

After picture: latex perimeter and bound all four sides in blue.

After picture: just another angle of the finished product.

Although DWP Carpet Binding has done many repairs like this, this is probably one of the few times I remembered to take before and after pictures! It's an easy enough process, however using latex on the perimeter takes some time to complete. Binding it did not take as long.

The same customer also brought in a very unique piece, with a unique request. He and his wife had moved into a home that an elderly woman lived in. In the house they found this quite charming area rug that they ended up using. What they didn't realize was that is was a hand woven rug... legitimately home-made. There was a lot of discoloration on the front of the carpet, although it was all pretty even in tone they found the back of the carpet more appealing for use.

Hand-made woven carpet: front facing & backing shown.

Hand-made woven carpet: front facing & backing shown.

If you notice in the picture, there are obvious color differences between the front and back of the carpet. I assume the front was once the same sage green as the back is currently. It most likely was worn out from sun exposure and use. You may also notice around the perimeter a band. That is how I knew it was hand-made. It is a canvas material that was stitched to the back of the carpet (again, hand-stitched); whoever made this carpet put in a lot of time and effort. They also were very consistent in their hand-stitching. In any manner, what the request for the carpet was: get it to where the back can become the front. Easier said then done. Although Dan and myself spent a lot of time discussing with the customer what we would do, it turned out we decided to do something entirely different than what was discussed (at the same cost of course).

In order to keep the integrity of the carpet, we decided to undo the hand-stitched band. Originally we thought using latex on the perimeter would be the way to go, similar to their smaller blue area rug. Then we decided that if we did that it would compromise the charm of the carpet, on top of making the original front side incapable of being used again.

I went to work on it. It took me about an hour, but I was able to un-stitch the canvas band. Then I folded it over to the reverse side. At that point, I bound four sides with a matching sage green binding. What DWP Carpet Binding accomplished in doing this is maintaining the integrity of the rug. In the future, should they decide to use the front (for a look of neutral tones) they will be able to do so by removing the binding, flipping the carpet and having it bound with the canvas band on the back again!

This was a unique project for us. Not too many people have asked for this type of work. Although it took longer to bind, in general, we were able to keep both sides useful while providing the customer with a carpet that will have a completely different look (now sage green in tone).

Thank you to Pete & his wife for the interesting projects!

It was quite unique & interesting for us.

(I say "his wife" because I did not formerly meet her, otherwise her name would be posted too.)