Page 3 - 2018-06-CFR Volume 117 - You Can't Be Serious - June 2018

The manufacturers response to all this is that there is June 2018
nothing wrong with the carpet tiles, that they aren’t
supposed to lay flat (yes, they stated that in writing –
unbelievable) and that the test they performed allows
for some lift. Well that may be true in the country
they come from and with the EN test (European test)
they perform which actually does allow a maximum
deviation of any part of the sample from its plane ≤
2mm. But, the deviation is DURING THE TEST not
on the floor in actual usage. So that argument,
though they make it and use it in their defense, be-
comes moot. The manufacturer states that when
they inspected the installation there was in fact edge
lift but it conforms to the standard. They also insinu-
ate that the installation instructions were not followed
and probably not even read. So explain how it can
be that only two edges on every tile are lifting? How
does installation or adhesive cause that perfectly uni-
form physical condition? What does one do wrong
during installation that makes that happen? Prove
that this is even possible and show us how to prove
your argument. It can’t be done. And why is one
color of your carpet tiles lifting and the other, in-
stalled in the midst of the lifting tiles by the same in-
stallers in the same way with the same adhesive, on
the same substrate and the same conditions, not lift-
ing?
The manufacturer’s response states further that the
inspection report says that “adhesive and adhesion
has nothing to do with keeping the tile flat or holding
it down, only to hold it in place”, we (the manufactur-
er that is) do not agree. This is the kicker in their re-
sponse when they say, “Carpet tiles are not to be
flat, but confirm to the standard, and there is a toler-
ance for this according to EN1307.” They conclude
that the carpet tile fulfills all the requirements in the
standard. Where I come from, if you make a stupid
comment like this you get a slap in the back of the
head - along with a few choice words.
The adhesive and adhesion has nothing to do with
keeping a carpet tile flat or holding it down, only to
hold it in place. This has always been and will al-
ways be the case – no question, no argument. Car-
pet tiles should be flat, square and stable out of the
box with no edge lift of any kind allowable as there is
ZERO tolerance in a carpet tile for anything other
than flat. These carpet tiles are not and are there-
fore defective. They lifted during the manufacturers
test and they lifted during ours. They lift on the floor
and they lift out of the box without any influence from
anything at all. They lift when glued down, they lift
when re-glued with a more “ambitious” adhesive and

3 Commercial Flooring Report