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Woven carpet unless you are familiar with it's characteristics.

If you see something that doesn't look repairable, or simply looks quite iffy, tell the customer that the chances of making it worse are much higher than doing the repair successfully.  For most of us, there's a little guy that sits on your shoulder and talks to you every now and then. When he says the repair is too risky, don't be afraid to walk. No need to prove your Superman no matter how badly the customer wants the repaired done.

It's difficult sometimes to say no but I just did that a couple of days ago.  It was a very nice older lady with some damaged carpet that had become delaminated. Had I cut into the carpet and not been able to find enough backing that was intact enough to make the repair, then I would have been in deep doo doo. The repaired area was right as you walk from the front entry towards the dining room, a very high traffic area.

Yes she was disappointed but she also understood why I refused to do the work.