I have a question for carpet professionals...

I have a beautiful 12 x 18 broadloom area rug (Karastan) that is too large for a particular spot in my new home. It is a cream color with a handsewn navy inset border. The edges are also handsewn with a cloth binding instead of a serged edge.

I would love to be able to cut this rug down to a finished size of about 14 x 12, but am concerned about it being butchered in the process. For the design to remain intact, a 4 foot strip needs to be cut out and then the two end pieces need to be reattached.

Would/should this job need to be done by a high-end carpet shop? If all they do is cut it and use the heat activated carpet tape to reassemble it, will the seam be adequately strong for an area rug? If so, would an average carpet installer be able to perform this on-site with good results?

I'm asking because the only carpet repair shop I'm familiar with is very expensive. In my previous home, I had an installer replace some doggy stained sections of wall-to-wall carpet with sections from another room. While the result was very good, I wonder if it would work as well on a high quality heavy broadloom instead of builder grade junk.

What would be a fair price for this type of job? I live in CT.

Thanks, nuccia