This area of the Rug Estimator Pro is to further detail other problems your rug may. This information should be used in proper conjunction with the condition category. Photographs and examples are posted at the bottom of the page.
Take a careful look at your rug to evaluate both serious and non-serious problems. Not so serious problems include: a subtle/good repair, a very light stain which may or may not come out, moth damage on the back of the rug, etc. Serious issues which may or may not also affect condition include dry rot, large reduction in length and/or width of carpet (goes into borders) large patchwork, loose and/or obvious repairs, odor, need of general cleaning, obvious and/or permanent stains.
In both instances of problems small and large, calculate the square footage of affected area, and use the appropriate category as available in the appraisal tool. For example, let's say your carpet is 9'x12' (108 sq. feet) and has a not-so-visible stain covering 1 sq. foot of the rug (<1%). In this case, use the category which matches the dimension appropriately. If you have a second not so obvious stain which covers 2%, and the carpet has re-fringe (3%) the combined affected area counts as 6%, and for purposes of the Rug Estimator Pro should be noted as "Subtle 5-10%."
Additional information:
Dry rot, mildew, odor, pet stains: Should your rug have any of these problems, it should be in the "poor" or "very poor" condition categories.
Added fringe should be reported in "good" condition at best. Re-fringe should be reported as ~3% or in the "0-4% subtle" category. That is to say, if an additional 2% of the rug has problems on top of the rug having re-fringe, it should be placed in the "Subtle problem 5-10%" category.
Reduced size rug In some cases, older rugs are taken in several inches or more to give a cleaner look. Although not an unacceptable practice, this will affect the value of your rug. Using the appraisal tool, attempt to evaluate the square footage which has been removed. To give an example, if the rug is a 9x12, and the border has been removed a half foot on each end (combined 9%), this would equate to 9 sq. ft of the rug removed (9x12=108 sq. ft.) or 10%. In this case, select "Subtle problem 5-10%." A rug with this this significant of a problem at best should be reported as being in "fair" condition. If there is any additional problem, be sure to include these and also adjust condition as appropriate.
The carpet photographed below is an Indo (Indian) Peking design carpet approximately 40 years old. Looking at the reverse of the carpet, this carpet exhibits classic symptoms of a moth-eaten rug. If you look at the circled area, you can see where there should be red knots has been eaten down to the foundation. Look more carefully, and you can see other areas which have been eaten as well. For purposes of the Rug Estimator Pro, you may claim this to be "0-4% subtle (re-fringe and other)" in the repair category if no wool pulls from the front of the carpet. If wool does come out, assess to what extent, and estimate accordingly. In any event, carefully check your carpet for moth infestation and vacuum several times on the face and reverse side with both a suction vacuum (shop vacuum) and beater vacuum (rotating roller.)
Below is a face of a Jaldar double -knotted rug which had been eaten by moths. This should be noted as a "0-4% subtle" damage as it is the size of a US quarter and cannot be seen from 6 feet away.
Below is an antique Heriz (100+ years old) which has been worn badly, past the foundation. Even if this is the only area of the rug showing a hole, the rug should be considered at best "poor" condition with "Very Low and/or Very Uneven: foundation showing" and most importantly regarding the repairs/damaged section: "0-3% damage obvious". This is a very good example of a carpet which could be well worth a professional repair to bring it up to usable standards.
The following is an Indo (made in India) Kerman with moderate water-staining. Often if a rug has been exposed to water and not properly dried, it can take on "dry rot" which deteriorates the fibers. You will know your carpet has been subject to dry-rot if it has become hard, brittle and susceptible to cracking. Photographed below is the back of the rug showing a strong water mark. Although this does travel through the rug, it is more evident on the back. If the stain is unseen on the front, and no dry rot is present, this may be claimed as "0-4% subtle" as the problem is isolated on the reverse side of the carpet. If the stain is seen on the front, decide if it is evident or subtle. In any case, if the rug is suffering from dry-rot, it should be placed in the "poor" category with "0-3% obvious" in the repair section even if only seen from the back.
This is how evident damage can be as shown in the Indo (Indian) Sino rug below. Although the rug may clean up, and there is no dry-rot present, this rug is considered as "poor" condition with "0-3%" obvious staining.
Although it does not translate a significant amount on the face of the rug, this semi-antique Tabriz has been both patched and latexed. Because any cosmetic issues are isolated on the back, mark this item as having "0-4% subtle". This particular rug was brand new with absolutely no signs of wear and kept in inventory for over 50 years. Although in otherwise perfect condition, the repair prevents this rug from being in "excellent" condition, and would more appropriately be placed in the "Good" condition category.
Take a look at both the front and back of this semi-antique Kerman. This is good quality patchwork., The back of the rug shows a patch which does not quite align, but on the front this hardly translates. Note the tight stitching which is quite flexible.
As you can see in the photograph, the fringe has been added on the the patch piece which has not yet been dyed to match the original fringe. Unlike many patched rugs, this particular carpet was shortened in length, and was patched with an unaffected part of the border from the scrap pieces. This is nice as it is unusual to have a carpet patched with its own piece. Such a patch is a better match than any other fragment would be.
The carpet shown above (Indian Aubusson) is a 10x14 or 140 square feet. The damaged area is approximately 4 square feet in total. A carpet such as the one shown above and below should be noted as being in "Poor" condition with "5-10% subtle problem or 0-3% Obvious."
A rug with professional re-fringe will show virtually no signs of having been restored. Even rug experts may need to look very carefully for signs these expertly re-fringed rugs. For purposes of the Rug Estimator Pro, these rugs should not be assessed with any strikes against it when assessing. On the other hand, there are rugs where the re-fringe has been created with less attention to detail. As an example, take a look at the rug below. Notice how the fringe has an apron which wraps around from the front to the reverse side of the rug (as shown by the green arrow). This particular fringe has been machine made, and then applied by hand. Also notable is what the blue arrow points to: a sewn stitch - just one of many ways this fringe has been fixed to the rug. Another tell-tale sign of a re-fringe is by taking a look at the red border on the right hand side running vertically. In the majority of rugs, the border is the same on all sides. One can therefore infer the fringe is either overlapping the design or there is a flaw in the mapping. In the case of the rug s shown below, the fringe has probably been placed on top of this border due to lack of a secure fastening place further to the end of the rug. Note this fringe is a machine fabricated material, hand-stitched to the rug. There are other ways to attach fringe that are more desirable than this. For purposes of the Rug Estimator Pro, this rug should be noted as having "0 to 4% subtle (Re-fringe & Other)."
