From several calls and samples sent in recently where a condition instigating a complaint could have been solved by using two of the five senses. A complaint normally involves physically going to the installation site, looking at the carpet or floor covering and trying to determine by what is exhibited and seen, what the problem is. Often that’s not enough as it takes more than just looking in many cases to figure out just what’s going on.
Two cases in particular recently will highlight this for you. The first is a medium blue carpet on stairs that was dark on the edges. This carpet had been down for a short period of time, less than a year, when the consumer called the dealer complaining that the edge of the stairs was dark and they felt there was a problem with the carpet. As usual we had the dealer email photos of the carpet so we could first look at it and try to help determine what was going on. In this case the dealer was also able to get a small section of the carpet from the affected area and sent in a sample. When the sample was received it was evident the dark area was soiling rather than wear, a dye issue or some other color altering event. The dark area also had a lemon scent when smelled and it had a different feel, like a drag or slightly sticky residue. Smelling and touching the carpet defined what the real problem was. Someone had used a cleaning agent on the carpet which had a lemon scent which left a residue that caused soil to be attracted to the carpet resulting in the nose of the carpet turning dark. This is not a problem with the carpet nor was it the dealers problem or responsibility. The condition can be corrected by simply hot water extracting the affected area of the carpet using no cleaning solution at all, just the universal solvent of plain hot water. This will flush out the residual material and remove the dark area. If the dark area comes back the process should be repeated to remove the remaining residue. Smelling and touching the affected area resulted in the complaint being solved and resolved and the cause determined.
In the second case a bubble appeared in the living room carpet about 4 feet off the wall and about 8 inches in diameter. An inspector visited the site, said the carpet felt like a limp dish cloth in this area and used a UV light to try and determine if anything was there. The dealer also had gone prior to this and looked at the carpet. There was no indication that when the carpet was felt for delamination if a comparison was made between how the surface felt in the affected area as opposed to unaffected areas. No one smelled the carpet. For a small area to be affected like this someone had to have done something. Relatively new carpet does not just delaminate in one spot. The affected area was also out of the traffic lanes so foot traffic was not contributing to the bubble. When asked if the spot was felt or smelled the response was no. Feeling the spot would have revealed any residue being felt or a difference in the affected area versus another unaffected area. Smelling would indicate an odor of something, which could be urine, kerosene, wine or another chemical agent that would destroy the bond between the primary and secondary backing. Not all chemical substances will show up under UV light so using other senses is necessary.
When in doubt touch the area affected, see if it feels different from unaffected areas. If it feels like something is on the carpet then smell it, gross as that may sound it can save you from the pain of going through the claims process and give you a quick and definite answer. Most of the time you’ll be able to identify the odor – your nose knows more than you think it does.
This is one of the reasons why I always say, “The carpet never lies; it will always tell you what’s wrong if you know how to interpret what its saying.”
Author: Lewis G. Migliore
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts