Most carpet selections are based strictly on a square yard cost, color and looks. When you make your selection you should first determine how long you want the carpet to last and select a carpet that will meet your expectations. Not understanding what you are buying can cause premature replacement, increased maintenance costs and down time because you will need to clean it more often.
The following is an example of a Hotel Company that made the wrong selection and how it cost them thousands.
They were sold on a “special” carpet because it was bleach resistant. Bleach spots can be a problem in the hotel business, but buying this carpet cost them thousands unexpected maintenance costs.
The carpet was made with a solution dyed Olefin fiber system which does resist bleach, but it was what they didn’t know that really cost them. Olefin is one of the lowest priced and lowest performing fibers. Olefin loves oil; it is a softer fiber and has a lower melting point than other fibers.
The Inns parking lots received a fresh coat of new slurry every spring. The parking lots are about 6 feet from the rooms so the black tar was tracked in on the carpet. Another problem was anytime an iron was dropped or someone slid a heavy object across the carpet it would leave a burn mark because of the lower melting point. Because Olefin is a softer fiber is loses it memory and the heat set twist quickly unravels, so the carpet looked matted and crushed very quickly.
Because Olefin is a magnet for oil the guest’s socks were always dirty. This created a lot of complaints and reduced their repeat business. Their choices were to replace the carpet long before they budgeted or greatly increase their maintenance budget.
They did not have the capital to replace the carpet so they hired a low budget carpet cleaning company. The carpet was so dirty the cleaner used a very aggressive pre-spray and rinsed the carpet with another chemical to remove the parking lot tar. They did not rinse the cleaning chemicals out of the carpet so in a very short time the carpet was quickly overloaded with a sticky chemical build-up too.
The Inn owners hired us to inspect and evaluated the situation. The recommendation was to restore the carpet and develop a maintenance program that worked with the carpet instead of against it. However this meant they had to greatly increase their maintenance budget over what they historically planned.
Once the carpet was restored by chemically balancing and rinsing out the soapy residues, a proper maintenance program was established. By properly cleaning the carpet they were able to extend the time between cleanings and cut their cleaning budget by about 40%.
This is a perfect example of how selecting a carpet without understanding what you are buying can cost you thousands. When selecting a carpet you need to look at every aspect of the project and determine what product will best fit your needs.
Things to consider are:
- What is the Area Used for: Corporate, Education, Public Area, Health Care, Hospitality, Retail…
- Life Cycle Expectancy: Your budget and life expectancy should determine the quality of carpet you purchase. Don’t purchase a low quality carpet expecting it to last more than 5 years.
- Low Quality Carpet – 0 to 4 years
- Medium Quality Carpet – 5 to 8 years
- High Quality Carpet – 9 to 12 years
- High Performance Carpet 12 years and beyond
- Daily Traffic Flow:
- Light – 0 to 100 traffics
- Medium – 100 to 500 traffics
- Heavy – 500 to 1500 traffics
- Extremely Heavy – over 1500 traffics
- Fiber Types:
- Low priced/low performance fibers Olefin, Polypropylene, P.E.T.
- Medium priced/medium performance fibers like Polyester or some Nylon Type 6
- High Priced/high performance fibers like some Nylon Type 6, Nylon Type 6.6 or Wool
There are reasons some fibers cost less than others, like a car, the higher the price the higher the performance and quality. But be warned there are a lot of mills charging high prices for a low performance fiber so make sure you understand what you are buying
- Construction Type: Broadloom, Tufted, Woven or Carpet Tiles
- Backing and Installation Systems: Unitary, Action Back, Attached Cushion, Stretch-in, Direct Glue, Double Stick, Lose Lay or Floating Floor
- Types of Soils it is Exposed to:
- Organic – Tracked in Sand or Dirt , Soils or Dust Particles settling on the carpet
- Protein – Food spills, Urine or Vomit and other proteins such as Blood Borne Pathogens
- Petroleum or Food Based Oils – Cooking Grease, Make-Up, Tar, Oil, Paints etc
- Number of Spill per Day
- Soil and Stain Resistance: “Soil Resistant” means it guards against dry soils and “Stain Resistant” resists liquid spills. You want a built in product that resists both. Topical Treatments vs. Built in Stain Protection, most protectors are applied to the carpet after it is made, this treatment can be easily removed with wear or improper cleaning. More advanced stain resistant systems are chemically engineered in to the fiber to create a permanent bond and cannot be easily removed
- Maintenance Budget: Most companies do not calculate maintenance costs into their budget or understand the life cycle cost of carpet.
- Cleaning Systems: Some cleaning systems are recommended by the manufacture, some can void the carpet manufactures warranty.
- Training: If you use an in-house maintenance staff are your employees properly trained?
- Sub Floor Access : Do you need to access computer and other wiring in the sub-floor
- Modular Furniture Systems: Do you need to lift or move the Furniture Systems
- Direct Sunlight: Is it exposed to direct sunlight
- Atmospheric Conditions: Are there Atmospheric Conditions you need to worry about, will the carpet be affected by chemicals from water features, freeway pollutants, etc.
- Rolling Traffic: Mail Carts, Dollies, wheel chairs, etc. that will accelerate the wear and tear
- Moisture Barrier Backing Systems: Do you have a lot of liquid spills that would soak through the carpet? A Moisture Barrier Backing System can prevent liquid spills from being absorbed into a latex backing system. This helps prevent re-appearing stains also known as wick back stains
- Resistant to Harsh Chemicals: Resistant to chemicals, bleaches, medicines, fertilizers, etc
There is a lot more to selecting the proper carpet than a cheap price, picking pretty colors or designs. You also now understand how selecting the wrong carpet can greatly increase your life cycle costs.
When selecting a carpet it would be worth the extra money to hire a carpet consultant to help you specify the carpet that best meets you r needs and expectations. Check your resources and take some time to verify what you are being told is in fact accurate.
Cary the Carpet Guy 