Carpet Technical Tips

CARPET SEAM VISIBILITY

Seam visibility has many determining factors that are not always within the installer’s control. The carpet color, style, construction, room orientation, and lighting all affect the seams visibility. Even a well made seam is often visible due to seam peaking and room lighting.

Seam peaking is a rise of the carpet along the seam generally only a 1/16” or less and is barely noticeable by touch. It generally results from power stretching which is part of the installation and is necessary. This affect is caused due to the elasticity of the backing and the rigid property of the seaming tape. When the seaming tape is bonded to the backing of the carpet all of the tension is aligned through the tape and not the backing causing tape lines to appear through the backing lifting the tape upward. The thicker the backing the greater the affect on the peak. Wider 6” seaming tape can reduce this but will not eliminate it.

Room lighting will also have an affect on the seam visibility. Seams that are positioned across the light source rather than along the light source will appear more visible. Even strong daylight in an empty room will make the seam more visible. It is important to discuss these factors with your flooring specialist.

WRINKLED CARPET

Wrinkles, ripples, and or waves can appear in your carpet for a variety of reasons some of which are listed below.

• Carpet was not properly power stretched during initial installation
• Carpet was installed in to cold of a temperature
• Heavy Furniture or objects were dragged across the carpet
• Heavy traffic
• Insufficient carpet padding
• Improper extraction of moisture after cleaning
• Use of chairs with rollers without hard surface mats
• Defective carpet backing
• Carpet coming away from tack strip

All of the above can be factors causing wrinkles in the carpet and most can be remedied by restretching the carpet providing the backing is not delaminated or damaged by improper use.

SHEDDING/LOSS OF FIBER

A characteristic of new carpets is shedding or loss of fiber. This will happen in some more than others. It is not a defect of the carpet, it is perfectly normal and expected. When new carpeting is installed it is common to find a large quantity of loose fiber in your vacuum. Some yarns are spun from stapled fibers and not all of those fibers will be anchored to the backing. Some of those fibers eventually release and are picked up by the vacuum. Also many carpets are sheared during the manufacturing process and although there is an attempt made to remove the loose fibers, some are missed and will appear in your vacuum. Usually this will gradually dissipate over a short period of time depending on the amount of vacuuming and traffic. The loss of these fibers will not affect the durability or reliability of your carpet. It may look like a great deal of fiber in the bag but, it will not affect the overall performance and appearance.