There are several new apartment buildings that have difficulty installing carpets in the common hallways of their buildings. Third-party carpet inspectors are often the people who have to decide why the carpets failed. By the time a carpet inspector finally engages in one of these claims, the carpet has been subjected to movement, steam cleaning, vacuuming, and atmospheric issues. The nature of hospitality-style carpeting used in condominium common areas creates problems.
Proper installation and maintenance procedures are very important if there is any hope of maintaining a beautiful appearance for more than ten years. Common hallway carpets in condominiums often have stylized edges and irregularly shaped hallways that require sewing multiple carpet panels to complete the installation. The way carpet seams are expected to be constructed has changed considerably over the past five years. Unfortunately, no one informed the carpet installers. There is no industry mechanism to inform carpet installers and retailers of industry changes.
According to the Carpet and Rug Institute’s 2011 Carpet Installation Standard, a bonded carpet or rug must have all cut edges sealed with a thermoplastic adhesive or similar. Architects and carpet manufacturers insist that all cut edges of carpet be encapsulated with seam sealing compound because they need to. Another installation issue that causes problems in installations is the lack of adhesive that is used to hold the carpet to the subfloor. If there is a place where the corners can be cut by cutting the amount of glue used to keep the carpet, you can double the “savings” if the carpet is installed with double bonding. This type of installation is when the carpet is attached to the underlay and the underlay is attached to the concrete.
The last major problem with hallway carpeting that is often seen is replacing wall-to-wall carpeting with new carpet tiles. Carpet tiles are installed using a pressure-sensitive adhesive. This adhesive must be applied to a clean concrete surface free of all contamination including adhesive from previous carpet installations. If the pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the old carpet adhesive then it will mix with it, and the moisture will be trapped. If the moisture eventually tries to escape around the edges of the carpet tiles and lift or emulsify the new adhesive. Sometimes this problem is often blamed on the manufacturer. The problem with most housing companies is the assumption that the carpet is installed according to spec.
Some solutions to opt for;
- Make sure all seams are done with three beads of seam sealer
- Ask the carpet manufacturer for the correct amount of glue and the required number of trowels in the shipment.
- Make sure the concrete base is properly prepared according to the manufacturer’s specifications
- Certified carpet inspectors are available on the market and can be hired to confirm that the carpet has been installed to standard.
