Carpeting Installation and Maintenance

 Delia Tacheny

INT 323 - Textiles, Materials, and Sourcing

Weekly Summary

This week we finished our Textiles book -- Crazy, right?! We finished up reading the three remaining chapters. This included a final chapter on floorcoverings, a chapter on textile bath products, and a chapter on bedding. These next few blogs, I am going to focus on each of these topics individually as they tie directly into our weekly blog prompts. This week, I am going to cover the final chapter of floorcoverings along with some added sources for further research. Specifically, I will discuss the various carpet installation methods and proper carpet maintenance. 

Carpet Installation Methods

Prior to installation, the site and surface area must be prepared. First and foremost, any old carpet, vinyl, or linoleum must be removed. Second, it is extremely important, especially for glue-down installations, that the floor is dry to prevent any moisture from interfering with adhesion or creating other problems. Third, the floor needs to be clean and smooth – free of cracks, holes, bumps, dust, etc. (Yates, 334).

The three primary Wall-to-Wall installation methods are Stretch-In, Glue-down, and Free-lay:

The stretch-in method is used for rollgoods. Installation involves a carpet rollgood being stretched across the floor and then fastened over pin-holding strips that have been secured to the perimeter of the floor space. The strips are called “tackles strips” and are made of either plywood or metal, with protruding metal pins that are angled at 60 degrees. First, the carpet is laid-out and seamed together as necessary; it is then stretched about 1-1.5 percent in length and width and anchored over the pins. It is stretched using a power stretcher and anchored over the edges using a knee kicker (334-335).

The glue-down method can be used with either roll-goods or carpet tiles. In short, the glue-down method simply involves the use of an adhesive to attach the flooring. A double-glue down installation includes an attached cushion to the carpet, whereas a direct-glue down installation does not utilize cushioning. When rolling traffic is considered, glue-down methods are best as they minimize shearing and seam separation, and snowplowing. A glue-down method is also going to be the safest for rolling traffic, as it the most secure and will create the least amount of tripping hazards. When installing a rollgood, the measurements, layout, and seam placement must be carefully thought-out; the carpet cannot be too large or too small for the space. When installing carpet modules, a starting point and overall grid layout should be selected that will maximize the cut size of the perimeter modules. The adhesive used may either be a permanent or releasable type. Releasable adhesives allow the floorcovering structure to be repeatedly lifted and rebonded, which allows some access to underfloor service trenches or cable systems; and it allows the modules to be rotated or removed (335-337). 

The free-lay installation method is primarily considered for carpet modules. Free-lay installation offers maximum flexibility for carpet tiles, and easy access to floor and underfloor systems. The level of traffic, specifically rolling traffic such as hospital gurneys, may limit the use of free-lay installation, but in less heavy of traffic conditions, this can be a preferred option. The modules must be extremely dimensionally stable for free-lay use, which is often achieved through the use of a secondary backing. Once again, a grid must be planned out to maximize the cut size of perimeter modules. Once the grid is established, some of the module rows should be secured with an adhesive or double-face tape; this minimizes shifting of the grid. A selective glue-down adhesive would still leave 80-90% of the modules in free-lay use; if tape is used, this can be removed after installation, leaving all the tiles freely laid (336).

Factors affecting the choice of installation methods include traffic conditions, planned space utilization, acoustical and insulative control, and cost (337-338). When installing an area rug, the two important things to keep in mind are that 1) the cut edges need to be bound in some manner, and 2) if a cushioning is used, it needs to about 1 to 2 inches dimensionally smaller on every side so that the rug can lie close to the floor on the perimeter (337).

Carpet Layout

When it comes to carpet layout, there are a lot of creative liberties, but also some necessary guidelines. It is usually the most ideal to have uniform directional pile lay throughout an entire carpet surface, and often the pile lay should coordinate with the layout of a room or corridor. The angle and lay of the pile yarns affects how much light is reflected off the surface; this in turn affects the apparent color of the carpet (339). Seam placement is another important factor to consider. Seams should ideally run parallel with the pile lay and any doorways; in the case of a doorway, they should run along the center of the doorframe, not on either side. As for carpet tile layouts, there are four pattern options which are diagrammed here: monolithic, ashlar, brick, and quarter-turn. When it comes to matching carpet patterns, they will have either a set-match or drop-match pattern. Set-match/side-to-side patterns repeat themselves across the width of the carpet. In drop-match patterns, the repeat unit is shifted up or down by ½ or ¼ unit so that the pattern appears to repeat diagonally across the width of the carpet (340-341).

Carpet Maintenance

Proper carpet maintenance is imperative for maximizing the use-life of a carpet. Scheduled maintenance increases a carpet’s appearance retention; regular maintenance prevents soil accumulation, apparent color changes, and changes in texture and luster. Scheduled and regular maintenance also improve indoor air quality, provide cost-savings attributed to premature replacement, and reduce the amount of carpet going to landfills (343-344). The primary forms of maintenance are initial care, preventative maintenance, interim maintenance, and restorative maintenance. 

A newly manufactured carpet may come with some features such as shedding and sprouting. Shedding is when short lengths of fiber, accumulated during manufacturing, have risen to the surface of the carpeting; these can be removed through vacuuming. Sprouting is when a tuft is protruding a little higher than the primary surface; these "sprouts" can simply be cut to the proper pile height. Any other residue left from manufacturing can usually be removed fairly easily through the initial care process (345).

Preventative maintenance seeks to minimize soil accumulation and prevent stains and unnecessary wear. Forms of preventative maintenance include using protective mats by entrances, regular vacuuming. pretesting cleaning products, and minimizing/ removing stains. Pretesting cleaning products will minimize the risk that the product damages the fibers, causes color transfer, produced color changes, or leaves an unpleasant residue (347).

Interim maintenance is especially important for areas that receive heavy amounts of traffic. This includes planned dry-cleaning; removing any pilling or fuzz as necessary; and potentially adjusting the position of furniture (349-350). 

The four types of restorative maintenance are dry extraction, dry foam, wet shampooing, and hot water extraction. The advantage of dry extraction is that the surface and fibers do not need to be wetted at all, eliminating the need for drying and the risk of over-wetting. Dry foam is a slightly more thorough method, and the risk of over-wetting is very minimal. However, the process is slightly more demanding, and other methods are even more thorough. Wet shampooing is a much more thorough cleaning process; but is much more demanding, and requires the use of a wet vacuum, and could cause pile distortion due to the use of rotary brushes. It must be carefully applied to avoid over-wetting, and thoroughly vacuumed to eliminate all residue. Last, hot-water extraction is another thorough method and there is less risk of pile distortion. You do however need a machine with high-pressure jets, and any stains must be removed prior to cleaning so that the hot water does not set them (350-351).

For some excellent visual resources, check out the two YouTube videos below. One is a video on installing wall-to-wall carpet using the stretch-in method. The other is a video on installing 1' x 4' carpet modules in an ashlar pattern. Both were really interesting and helped me understand the installation processes even better.

Floor Doctor. (2019). How to Install Carpet Tiles. YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdTuFRIABM0.

This Old House. (2014). How to Install Wall-To-Wall Carpeting. YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2rImkgys6w.

Yates, M., & Concra, A. (2019). Textiles for residential and commercial interiors / Mary Paul Yates; Adrienne Concra.            Fairchild Books, Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.