20+ Years of Owner Experience
Eco-Friendly
Green Cleaning
Satisfaction Guaranteed
5-Star Rated by Local Homeowners
From a roll of carpet to a finished rug
Most customers know us for cleaning. Fewer know that we also build rugs. When the right rug for a room does not exist in a store, because the room is an odd shape, the size is unusual, or a designer has specified a particular carpet and border, we make it.
The usual starting point is a carpet and a border fabric chosen with your designer or on your own. Once the carpet, the size and shape, and the border are decided, we take over. We receive the carpet at our facility or pick it up from the floor store, the border fabric is shipped to us directly, and the rug is built in our shop.
What we build
- Area rugs in custom sizes and shapes
- Rugs pieced and seamed from more than one carpet
- Rugs with fabric-wrapped or wide-bound borders
- Leather and cork wrapped edges
- Negative-edge borders, on carpets that can take them
- Rugs with a soft backing to protect the floor beneath
- Existing rugs re-cut to fit a different room or an angled corner
Only need an edge finished on a remnant? That is carpet binding and serging.
How a Custom Rug Is Built
Plan
Carpet, size, shape and border are settled first, including how much of the border fabric should show on the face of the rug.
Cut & Seam
The carpet is cut to size and laid out. Pieced designs are seamed together, and the seam tape is left to dry fully before anything else is done.
Back
Where a soft backing is wanted, adhesive is applied and the backing rolled on evenly. It protects the floor from the stiff carpet back and hides the seams.
Finish
After the glue has dried the excess is trimmed and the edges are bound, serged or wrapped in the color or fabric you chose.
What to expect from a custom rug project
What we need from you
The carpet, or the name of the store holding it; the finished size and shape, with a sketch for anything other than a rectangle; and your choice of edge. For a fabric border, tell us how much you want showing on top. It can be as little as one inch or as much as a foot, and a larger rug does not have to have a wider border.
Timing
A fabricated rug is not a same-day job. Seam tape and backing adhesive each need time to dry before the next step, and border fabric may have to be ordered. We give you a completion date with the quote.
Honest limits
The carpet decides what can be done with it. A negative edge, where the carpet is folded to form the border, is difficult and works only on certain carpets: the carpet needs enough weight and flexibility to bend, and it must not “grin”, which is when bending opens up the pile and shows the backing.
Border materials wear differently. Cork and leather look striking but do not stand up to heavy traffic the way a canvas border does, so they suit rugs in quieter rooms.
From our job files
Samples of fabric, canvas, leather, cork and negative-edge borders are described in Phoenix Custom Rug Building. Custom Rug Backing follows one pieced rug through seaming and backing, and this job shows a rectangular rug re-cut to fit a corner.
