Getting a Lump Out of a Carpet That Is Down

Pull the carpet back from the tack strip by tugging it gently with a pair of pliers. Start in one corner and work your way around the room until three sides of the carpet are free.

Remove and replace the old tack strips using a pry bar and hammer. Pry the old tack strips off the floor, wearing gloves to protect your hands from the spikes. Hammer in new tack strips, leaving no spaces between sections, using the pre-started setting nails in the strip.

Set up the power carpet stretcher with the pushing end butting up against the wall where the carpet is still attached. Fit extension rods to the stretcher until the stretching end -- the power head -- is 6-inches away from the loose end of the carpet. Start in the middle of the wall and work your way to one end, then back to the middle before working your way to the other end of the wall.

Turn the dial on the head of the carpet stretcher to press the gripping teeth into the carpet, then push down on the lever to begin stretching. As you stretch the carpet you will see the lump flatten out. Push down on the lever with one hand, and press the edge of the carpet onto the teeth of the tack strip with the other hand.

Use the knee kicker to stretch the carpet into the corners or other hard-to-reach areas, such as around built-in furniture. Use the knee kicker by placing the teeth 6-inches from the edge of the carpet, then kick the opposite end with your bent knee to stretch the carpet toward the wall. Push the carpet onto the tack strip before releasing the knee kicker.

Repeat the stretching process with the power stretcher across the width of the room, and finish the hard-to-reach corners with the knee kicker as before.

Trim away any excess carpet around the edges of the room with a carpet cutter or utility knife, and push the carpet edge down behind the edge of the tack strip.