How much does rug repair cost in Chicago?
Small repairs — a fringe, a side cord, a small patch — start at $85. A typical repair project runs $500 to $2,000, priced by the hours of handwork involved rather than by square footage. Major restoration on an antique piece or a multi-rug recovery can reach $10,000 or more. Every repair receives a free written assessment before any work begins, so you approve the price first.
Can moth damage be repaired invisibly?
In most cases, yes — provided the foundation under the grazed area is still sound. We first eradicate the larvae, eggs, and casings and clean the rug, then reweave the lost pile knot by knot, dye-matched to the surrounding colours. Once the new wool is in and groomed, the repair typically disappears into the pattern. We assess foundation integrity first and tell you honestly what is recoverable.
How long does rug repair take?
Small repairs such as fringe and patches take about 2 to 4 weeks. Major repairs like hole and pile reweaving run 4 to 12 weeks depending on area and complexity. Complex restoration of an antique or a full reconstruction can take 3 to 6 months. We never rush conservation work — rushed repairs fail — and we give you a realistic timeline in the written assessment.
Do you offer free pickup for repair?
Yes. We provide free insured pickup and delivery throughout Chicago and the North Shore — Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, Skokie, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Northbrook, and Glenview — plus western suburbs including Hinsdale, Oak Park, and Naperville. We roll the rug properly and photograph it for chain-of-custody.
Are you IICRC certified?
Yes, Ahmadi Rug is an IICRC-certified firm. Beyond certification, our repair methods follow textile-conservation practice — the discipline Ghorban Ahmadi trained in under conservators whose work served the Louvre, British Museum, and State Hermitage collections.
Can you reweave a hole in a Persian rug?
Yes — hole reweaving is core repair work. We first rebuild the missing foundation with new warp and weft under tension, then knot the pile back row by row in the original design and colours. Done correctly, the repair is invisible from the front and only findable on the back. A detailed hole can take 40 or more hours of handwork, which is what makes it last.
What is the difference between rug repair and restoration?
Repair is targeted — fixing a specific hole, fringe, selvedge, or worn area. Restoration is comprehensive conservation of a whole piece whose condition or value calls for it: foundation stabilisation, extensive reweaving, colour work, and preservation treatment together. Many jobs start as repair and stay there; we recommend full restoration only when the damage is extensive enough to affect the rug’s value, and we will tell you which is appropriate before work begins.
Can you repair an antique rug?
Yes — antique and heirloom rugs are a core specialty. They are treated as conservation objects: closer assessment, hand-spun and naturally dyed matched yarn, reversible techniques, and slower, more careful handwork than a modern rug receives. This is the work Ghorban trained for under museum conservators, and it is the kind of piece we most often recover.
Do you guarantee your repair work?
Yes. Every rug is checked against its intake photographs before it leaves and returned with that before-and-after photo record. We stand behind the result, and our zero-complaint record across three generations is something we protect on every single job. If anything about the repair is not what you expected, we will address it.
Will the repair be visible?
On hand reweaving, the goal is that it is not. A repair becomes invisible when the new yarn matches the original in fibre, spin, lustre, and dye, and when the knotting follows the original structure — so the rebuilt area ages and catches light like the rest of the rug. A visible repair is almost always the result of the wrong wool or a flat single-dye match, which is exactly what we avoid.
Can you repair silk rugs?
Yes. Silk reweaving — on a Qum, a Hereke, a Kashmir, or the silk highlights of a fine city Persian — is among the most demanding work in the workshop because the fibre is fine, lustrous, and unforgiving and the colours are subtle. We dye-match silk from multiple samples and rebuild at the original knot density so the repair disappears into the pattern.
Do you work with insurance companies?
Yes. We provide formal written assessment reports, document the rug with chain-of-custody photography at every stage, and work directly with adjusters when you authorise it. Water damage, fire and smoke, certain pet-damage scenarios, theft, and transport damage are common covered claims. For the valuation an adjuster needs, we coordinate with our rug appraisal service.
Can you fix a rug damaged by water?
Yes — but act quickly. Water brings three problems at once: dye bleed, foundation rot wherever the rug stayed wet, and mould within days. Recovery runs in sequence: mould remediation, foundation stabilisation, drawing migrated dye back, and reweaving lost pile. Getting the rug off the wet floor and to us before it dries in place is what makes it recoverable rather than a total loss.
Can you repair a heavily damaged Persian rug?
Often, yes — we routinely recover pieces that owners had written off. The deciding factor is the foundation: if enough sound warp and weft remain to rebuild onto, even extensive pile loss, multiple holes, and damaged ends can be rewoven. We assess the foundation first and give you an honest answer, including when a piece is better served by full restoration.
What if the damage is too severe to repair?
We will tell you plainly. When a foundation is too far gone to rebuild onto, we say so rather than taking on work that will fail. In those cases there are still good options — sometimes cutting the sound portion down and re-finishing it through resizing, sometimes a formal appraisal for an insurance total-loss claim. Honesty here protects you, and it is why our complaint rate is zero.
Do you also clean the rug during repair?
When it is needed — and with moth, pet, or water damage it almost always is — yes. Conservation-grade cleaning and decontamination are coordinated in-house with the repair so the rug is handled once and reweaving never goes onto a contaminated foundation. Cleaning is quoted as part of the assessment.
Can you match the original dyes?
Yes, and it is where much of the craft lives. Old wool fades unevenly, so we build the replacement yarn from several dye samples until it disappears into the abrash — the natural colour variation — of the original. A flat single-dye match is what makes a reweave obvious; a layered, sampled match is what makes it vanish.
What is the difference between hand-knotted and machine repair?
Hand repair rebuilds the rug as a continuous textile — new knots tied into the original foundation, ageing and wearing with the rest of the piece. Machine patching glues or sews a separate piece behind the damage; it stiffens, pulls at the surrounding pile, and works loose within a few years. On a hand-knotted rug, only hand reweaving lasts. We do not machine-patch heirloom pieces.
How do I prepare my rug for repair pickup?
Very little is needed. Remove furniture from the rug if you can, and note the specific damage or problem areas so we flag them at intake. Leave the rolling and wrapping to us — rolling a dry or brittle foundation the wrong way can crack it, so we handle that on site. If the rug is wet from a leak or flood, do not let it dry folded; call us first.
Should I attempt a DIY repair first?
For anything beyond a loose thread, no. Iron-on patches, fabric glue, and sewn-on fringe tape all stiffen the rug, pull at the surrounding knots, and usually make the eventual professional repair larger and more expensive. The single most valuable thing you can do yourself is stop the damage from spreading — keep the rug off the wet, out of the sun, and away from the pet — and get a written assessment early.
