Rug Reweaving & Reknotting — Structural Repair for Holes, Tears & Worn Areas
Hand reweaving and foundation repair for handmade rugs, done in our Skokie workshop. Quoted after inspection, with a complimentary preliminary estimate.
Text (847) 440-1349 — estimate the same business day.
Hand reweaving in our Skokie workshop
Hand reweaving and foundation repair belong to the handmade rug repair and restoration we carry out, together with fringe restoration, edge repair and custom yarn matching. Every rug is evaluated on its own, so that its structure, original character and long-term integrity are preserved.
Where a rug has lost pile, we reweave it by hand, with yarns we keep and dye ourselves, matched to the rug’s original materials.
Reknotting is the pile side of that work: new knots are tied knot by knot, in the rug’s original knot type, density and design.
On silk rugs we reweave the silk pile itself, not only the binding, and the repair is rebuilt the way the rug was constructed. In restoration work, nothing goes into the rug that does not belong to it: the same materials, in our own hand-dyed yarns.
Damage that calls for reweaving
Holes, foundation damage and worn areas are among the repair types we assess at inspection. Moth damage restoration, pet damage and water damage are repair services in their own right, and on each of them the rug is cleaned first, as decontamination, before anything is rewoven.
Water damage follows a set order in our workshop: mold remediation, then stabilizing the foundation, then drawing migrated dye back out, and only at the end, reweaving the pile that was lost. How much of the migrated dye comes back out is not something we promise in advance. Our notes on water-damaged rug repair cover water damage in more depth.
When an earlier repair needs to come out, such as a synthetic-yarn mend, a glued or sewn patch, or a machine overlock, we remove it and redo the work.
Tears, burns and splits along fold lines are also damage we reweave or repair, and each is assessed at inspection like any other.
From intake to the finished reweave
Before we quote, we photograph the rug front and back, map each area of damage and test the foundation. You then receive a written assessment of the rug, free of charge, before any work starts.
Every repair begins with cleaning the rug, and that cleaning is a separate line from the repair price. If the rug also needs a full wash, our rug cleaning service explains how cleaning is priced.
The rebuild is foundation-first. Where the foundation is damaged, we rebuild its warp and weft before any pile goes back in, and the new pile is then rewoven on that rebuilt foundation.
Once the new pile is in place, it is trimmed to the height of the pile around it.
When the reweave is finished, we inspect it against the intake photographs, and the before-and-after photographs come back to you with the rug. A repair can be reversed if you ask us to.
How much intervention a rug receives
Repair is localized work. Restoration is extensive work. Conservation stabilizes and documents the rug with minimal intervention.
Each project is evaluated individually, and the scope and price are agreed before work begins. For background, read our guide to rug reweaving and our article on repairing a hole in a rug.
A family workshop with a conservation background
Ahmadi Rug is a family-owned business, and our third-generation rug craftsmanship has a history that dates to 1984. The workshop’s Principal and Master Conservator is Ghorban Ahmadi, who has performed conservation work for the State Hermitage Museum, the Musée du Louvre, and the British Museum.
We reweave all types of handmade and hand-knotted rugs, including Persian, Oriental, Turkish, Caucasian, tribal, kilim, antique and silk rugs, and we specialize in handmade rugs, Persian rugs above all. Hand-tufted rugs are repaired as well; machine-made rugs are not.
What reweaving costs and how long it takes
Reweaving is quoted after inspection, because repair work varies with the rug, its age, knot density and materials. Repairs from $65 is the starting point across our rug repair service; a reweave gets its own price once we have seen the rug.
The preliminary estimate is complimentary, and no price is a final quotation until the rug has been inspected. If the scope changes after work starts, we ask for your approval first.
How long a reweave takes depends on its scope, the materials and our workload, and complex work can run to weeks or months. We give you an estimated timeframe once the scope is set, and it remains an estimate unless we agree a written deadline.
Existing damage or a risk to the rug is reported to you when we find it. The finished rug receives a quality assessment before it goes back, and we let you know when it is ready.
We collect rugs for reweaving across Chicago, the North Shore and the northwest and western suburbs, subject to route availability, including Evanston, Skokie, Oak Park, Glenview and Lake Forest among others. Insured pickup and delivery is free within 5 miles of our Skokie workshop or our St. Charles location, and $75 round trip beyond. If St. Charles is closer, drop off and collect the rug at our St. Charles location, and it travels to our Skokie workshop for the reweave.
Reweaving is one part of our full rug repair service, which also covers fringe, side edges, color correction and custom yarn dyeing.
Common questions
How long does reweaving take?
It depends on the scope of the reweave, the materials and our workload; complex work can take weeks or months. You receive an estimated timeframe after the scope is set, and it stays an estimate unless a written deadline is agreed.
Can you reweave a large hole?
We evaluate every hole individually rather than by size alone. Before quoting, we photograph the rug front and back, map each area of damage and test the foundation, and you receive a free written assessment before any work starts. What can be done is set at that inspection, and the scope and price are agreed before work begins.
Will the reweaving be visible?
We do not promise a repair that cannot be found, or an exact color match. What we do is reweave with yarns we keep and dye ourselves, matched to the rug’s original materials; on silk, the pile is rebuilt the way the rug was constructed. New knots follow the rug’s original knot type, density and design, and the new pile is trimmed to the height of the surrounding pile. The finished work is inspected against the intake photographs, and you receive the before-and-after photographs with the rug.
How much does rug reweaving cost?
Reweaving is quoted after inspection, since repair work varies with the rug, its age, knot density and materials. The preliminary estimate is complimentary, the written assessment before work starts is free, and the cleaning that every repair begins with is priced separately from the reweave.
Can you repair a tear in a rug?
Yes. Along with holes, lost pile and worn areas, we reweave or repair tears, burns and splits along fold lines. When a tear runs into the foundation, the warp and weft are rebuilt first and the pile is rewoven on top of them. What a given tear needs is set at inspection, and the scope and price are agreed before work begins.
Serving Chicago and the North Shore
Ahmadi Rug provides rug reweaving and reknotting for homeowners and interior designers across Chicago and the North Shore. We offer insured pickup and delivery from Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Northbrook, Glenview, and Skokie — as well as western suburbs including Hinsdale, Oak Park, and Naperville, and the Fox Valley via our St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia drop-off. Insured pickup and delivery is free within 5 miles of our Skokie workshop or our St. Charles location, and $75 round trip beyond.
Repair time depends on scope, materials and workload. Once the scope of your reweave is set, we give you an estimated timeframe.
To schedule a pickup from anywhere in our service area, call (847) 440-1349 or submit an estimate request online.
Send us a photo of the damaged area.
Send a close-up of the damage and a full shot of the rug, and we respond the same business day. Estimates from photographs stay preliminary until the rug is inspected.
Guides & Reference
Rug Reweaving: How a Rug Is Rebuilt Knot by Knot
What reweaving actually is — new warps, wefts, and matched pile — when it beats patching, why wool matching is the hardest part, and when it is not worth the cost.
Read guideRug Hole Repair: Options by Size, Cause & Value
How holes happen, why every hole grows, triage to stop the spread, and repair options — invisible reweaving, patching, structural rebuild — by hole size and rug value.
Read guide