In my opinion carpet tile is the best commercial textile floorcovering product there is. We’ll discuss several factors which I believe make this so and why this is one of the fastest growing segments of the commercial flooring business.
Carpet tile is said to be a $700 million dollar business with an increasing number of participants large and small. This is a unique product and it’s no surprise that the carpet tile business is growing and that it will rightfully grow even bigger. Consider the following reasons why carpet tile should be one of the smartest choices for textile floorcovering.
Carpet tile is unique primarily because of the variety it lends itself to. There is no other carpet product that goes down in pieces to make up one monolithic or intricate design that can be so easily worked with and yield such diverse and intricate designs and aesthetics. This product can have a tufted, printed or woven pattern or a combination of those. It can do everything broadloom carpet can and many things it can’t. I’ll expound on those attributes as we go along.
Carpet tile comes in various sizes, from 18 x 18 inch squares to 36 x 36 and even larger in some cases. There is no limitation for anyone making the product in the variety of sizes it can be made.
Carpet tile has unlimited styling and offers a variety of layouts. The same product for example can be installed in the same direction, quarter turned or even reversed to yield a different look. You can’t do that with broadloom carpet. Carpet tile styles and patterns can be mixed and matched depending on how the designs have been developed or how a designer would like to use them. The patterns can be bold, small, medium or a combination of the three. Styling is cutting edge with large and small geometric patterns, earthy designs or random eclectic combinations. Tiles can be easily mixed and matched, free formed, or any combination of choices or layouts one could imagine. No other carpet product allows this flexibility. The only thing that limits the design of this product is the imagination. With so many new and fantastic styles and configurations, choices of color and color combinations and patterning, no matter what that might be, the technology exists to do anything the mind can conceive of with a design. Added to this unique feature is the fact that the carpet goes together in pieces which can be made to look seamless or then again, depending on what the intention, it can look like individual units. Try that with a broadloom carpet. On top of that the layout can use small runs of product making the waste factor minimal at best.
No other carpet performs like a carpet tile. Because of the structural integrity of the overall construction, particularly the backing, carpet tile will perform at the highest level of any carpet product. Understand however, that this depends to a great degree on the fiber make up, tufting process, color and pattern of each individual product. There are, like any other floor covering products, levels of quality of carpet tiles. One thing is almost certain, you should rarely, if ever, have to worry about a carpet tile delaminating or about a tuft bind problem Though the product is and should be considered a higher performer the same compromising influences that affect the performance and appearance retention of any carpet apply. A light color in a high traffic area subjected to a great deal of soiling and inadequate maintenance will be just as much of a problem in a carpet tile as it will be in broadloom carpet. Always remember the importance of putting the right product in the right place to optimize performance and minimize problems, not doing so generates the biggest cause for complaints from end users.
No other textile floorcovering product is as easy to install as carpet tiles because they go in as small sections of carpet, regardless of their size. The product comes in a box so there is no lugging of heavy rolls, no special needs required to transport it to high floors in a tall building, it can be placed in freight elevators and rolled to the installation site on dollies or carts. This product also virtually eliminates the most common commercial carpet installation problems which are compromised seams and poor transfer of adhesives. Respectively these result in frayed and zippered seams and buckles and wrinkles from the carpet coming loose from the floor. The edges of carpet tiles, when manufactured correctly, should not fray or zipper and even if they fray they won’t zipper or delaminate. There can be no buckles or wrinkles in a carpet tile installation even with little or no adhesive to hold them in place. Since carpet tiles can be installed with a grid system, which only places adhesive in strategic locations, they will lay in place with no adhesive at all without lifting off the floor. For this reason alone, the elimination of the most common installation problems, carpet tiles should be high on everyone’s list as the carpet product of choice. Carpet tiles can also be glued to the floor using adhesives that can be troweled, rolled or sprayed on. The new spray adhesives are excellent, are easier to use, can be used sparingly and they are extremely effective in securing the tile to the floor. This process makes the installation of carpet tiles even faster, more efficient and economical.
Carpet tiles are versatile. They are perfect for replacement products in offices set up with modular work stations. The old product can be removed, the work stations lifted and carpet tiles installed in stages. This eliminates chaos and high replacement costs in the work place by eliminating major disruptions of personnel and equipment.
Carpet tiles come in a variety of backings, the most common of which are PVC, Polyurethane and Bitumen. The best of these, in my opinion, is Polyurethane because it can be used with virtually no concern for latent problems occurring later. As with all carpet installations, it is imperative the substrate be tested for moisture vapor emissions, alkalinity and porosity. The least concern is porosity, the greatest concern is moisture. Moisture in concrete will bring with it alkalinity which can destroy adhesive. If the moisture vapor emission rate is high it can affect vinyl backings by instigating plasticizer hydrolysis. Once this occurs the tile has to be removed, the substrate remediated by bead blasting and leveling and new tile installed. By using Polyurethane backing with a releasable scrim this problem will never occur. The polyurethane also offers cushioning which deadens sound, improves temperature insulation, provides better underfoot comfort to the employee population and increases the performance and appearance retention of the product when properly cared for. If there is moisture evident in concrete or any other compromising agent present on any type of substrate, with any backing used on carpet tile, it must be neutralized before installing the product. You don’t want to experience the pain of a problem that can certainly be created by not paying attention to the substrate conditions. This is true of any floorcovering material installation. Remediating large commercial jobs can cost millions of dollars which would never have to be spent had all parties involved in a project been paying attention to important details.
Even with all the wonderful positive aspects of carpet tiles there can still be defects. The most common defects in a carpet tile are curling edges which can also be called cupping; doming, which means the center of the tile rises up. Carpet tiles should always lay flat, always. Fuzzy edges, which most often occurs when the loops are cut on the edge of tiles and not cleaned up; tiles being cut out of square, which would create gaps at the edges; shrinkage, most often found in tiles that are tufted with shifting or graphics patterns, this would be a dimensional instability. Carpet tiles must be dimensionally stable at all times and maintain their size and dimensions, if they don’t most often this is an inherent problem with the product relative to manufacture. The other problem could be the pattern running off or being out of register, depending on whether the tile is printed or tufted. Remember carpet tiles, whether tufted, woven or fusion bonded, start their lives as a broadloom product. If the processing of the carpet is not controlled during manufacturing and finishing, it will inevitably cause reactions in the product be they visible or latent manufacturing defects.
Carpet tiles still require care and maintenance the same as any other broadloom carpet. Regular, planned maintenance is imperative. A program to care for the carpet tiles including vacuuming, spot cleaning, interim cleaning and overall cleaning should be planned before the carpet is installed and monitored for effectiveness after implemented. Changes should be made to the program as necessary to keep the carpet looking good, to extend its life and to optimize its performance.
There is no question in my mind that carpet tiles will continue to be one of the hottest growth areas of the commercial carpet market in all segments because of their design flexibility, versatility, ease of installation, elimination of the largest installation problems and the unique individualized opportunity they offer the designer and end user. This is a product that offers the most opportunity for the carpet industry and the design community.
Author – Lewis G. Migliore – The Commercial Flooring Report
LGM and Associates – The Floorcovering Experts