INDUSTRIAL CARPET TILES Selection, Information, Reviews

Carpet has been being woven for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Many centuries ago carpet was used in ancient China some of which was made within its boundaries and some imported from other Asian peoples. Persia, Bedouin tribes, and perhaps many others which have slipped into history had their own carpets. They were hand woven with designs and colors that identified their tribal origin.

In modern times these carpets are still being made and have become both valuable an collectors items. Later on, particularly during the Industrial Revolution, machine woven carpets were made with Axminster and other carpet weaving machines.

Sometime in the ’30s, during the depression in Georgia, when the need was great and hunger was knocking on the door, a woman converted a sewing machine by adding a few needles and loops to catch the yarn, and began to make small carpet mats. She sold these by the side of the road or the highway and so managed to feed her family.

Somebody noticed this and realized the potential to make carpet in rolls using this simple mechanical process, and so began the tufting era and the rest as they say, is history.

For many years wall-to-wall carpet has been primarily tufted carpet and Dalton Georgia, the industrial carpeting center of the world.

Since then there have been many innovations in carpet manufacturing, both tufted or woven, where the quality of the design, the types of yarn, the durability, the cleaning and stain resistant properties have made carpets, not only a major industry in the flooring sector but one that generates thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

Somewhere along the line carpet squares were developed. The idea behind carpet tiles it is to have square pieces of carpet, initially 18″ x 18″ until Milliken introduced carpet tiles that are 36″ x 36″, that could be easily stored, easily installed and easily combined to form new designs and patterns. In order for a carpet square or tile to be used it has to hold together, to be sufficiently stiff, otherwise it becomes just a nice piece of cloth. To get over this manufacturers developed backings, with different properties, that today not only serve that purpose but actually increase the lifespan of the carpet and cushion the impact of any one that steps or walks on it.

Carpet tiles are used in all sorts of environments including house and residential use, commercial use, and this includes offices, halls, hotels, shopping centers, shops, movie theaters and much more. This is because they have certain advantages, some of which are:

• Easier to install, therefore reducing cost.
• A greater variety of designs and potential combinations, which enhance the overall look of the areas where it is installed.
• Maintenance and replacement. If a carpet section has been damaged, you need to lift, remove and replace that section. It is a carpet tile, you take it out and put it in a new carpets square. If on the other hand the section you need to replace is from a carpet roll you’d need to change the whole carpet and that its much less practical and much more expensive.
• Durability. The backing that is used in carpet tile bonds the carpet yarn to the primary backing and this means that carpet will have a longer, as compared to a carpet roll, life span – with a proper maintenance of course.

Industrial carpet cleaning is different than residential because the carpeting is usually different. Most carpet used for industrial or commercial applications is higher strength, with a tighter weave and lower pile. It is typically glued directly to the under flooring, as opposed to being stretched over padding. Because it sees much more traffic than residential, it must be more durable and easier to clean. It is also usually cleaned much more frequently, so it must hold up to the repeated cleanings.

The most popular methods are the same as for residential. They are steam, dry, and encapsulation. However, the machines may be higher powered and the chemicals harsher.

Steam cleaning involves using a machine to force hot water and detergent into the carpet and then extracting the excess water. There will be a dry time involved, which makes it unsuitable for some industrial carpet cleaning uses when the facility cannot be closed to traffic until the carpeting is dry.

The dry method is not totally dry, but it uses very little water in the process. Chemicals and a machine are used to extract the dirt, and the carpet is ready for traffic in a very short time.

The encapsulation method has only been available since the 1990′s but has been growing in popularity. It is especially well suited for industrial carpet cleaning, since there is virtually no drying time involved. Synthetic crystals are applied, usually by a machine, which bind with dirt and allow it to be instantly vacuumed. Since there is no dry time involved, it is well suited for industrial carpet cleaning, particularly in operations that are open twenty-four hours a day, such as hotels or some restaurants.

Many industrial carpet cleaning companies have begun using “green” products that are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Much of this has to do with allowing the company utilizing the industrial carpet cleaning service to advertise this fact and gain points in public perception. The chemicals, and therefore the service, tend to be a bit more expensive, but the products work about the same as traditional cleansers.

Industrial carpet cleaning services must be prepared to work odd hours. Most of their work is done at night, when the business is either closed or experiencing light traffic. For example, most 24-hour restaurants have their carpets cleaned around 3 am on a weeknight. Customers are few, and sections can be closed off in rotation so that the whole carpet is cleaned without disturbing diners. Retail stores try to schedule industrial carpet cleaning services between closing and re-opening, and if they have a day when they are closed, they will likely want the cleaning performed the night before.

Carpets in commercial settings are subject to wear and tear that far exceeds that in the home. Frequent cleanings are needed to keep it looking attractive. The inconvenience and expense involved have led many businesses to forego carpeting and install vinyl tile instead. It is easier to keep clean, and will not need to be replaced as often. Carpet, on the other hand, will need to be replaced frequently, and such replacement is even more difficult to arrange than cleaning.

With the lifespan of a industrial carpet you should choose your carpet carefully because you will be looking at it for a long time. They are made of synthetic and are very resistant to staining and dirt. They do not crush down and get matted as easy as standard carpet. They are great for businesses such as a dentist office and large scale operations such as a hotel. Cleaning with a good quality carpet cleaner and regular vacuuming is all you need to do the keep them looking When these carpets are manufactured of color fast fibers so they are not likely to loose color when exposed to sunlight on a regular basis. There are different grades of industrial carpets which all are designed for areas with heavy traffic level loop, Berber, multilevel loop.

When it comes time for installation of your carpet all the old carpeting must be removed from the room including the molding around the outside of the room. The tack strips can also be removed and discarded. Clean the sub floor of any dirt make sure there is no moisture present. The new tack strips can now be installed around the outside of the room leaving a half inch gap between the strip and the wall The carpet can now be laid out in the room placing it down on top of the tack strips Cutting from the backside of the carpet you can trim the carpet to size. A kicker is then used to to stretch and attach the carpet onto the tack strips after that the carpet is then worked with a carpet stretcher. Any excess carpet can be cut off with a wall trimmer. The carpet can then be tucked down between the wall and tack strip and the baseboard molding can then be installed. Door strips are used to give a transition between your carpet floors and other flooring.

For high traffic areas industrial carpets will stand up to wear and tear for years of service and will give your business a appealing new look.