It can be challenging for homeowners to choose which type of flooring will work best in their home. Each type of flooring comes with pros and cons, and in choosing which type is right for your situation there are several things you need to consider.
You need to take into consideration your budget, aesthetics, tastes and lifestyle, as well as the amount of humidity, sunlight and water in the room where you are installing the floor. There’s an extensive range of choices and limitless design options to suit all kinds of looks and needs. Read more
by Terry Weinheimer, The Weinheimer Group LLC
Pooling and water marking are forms of shading and pile reversal that the pile of a carpet can experience. Pooling and watermarking are one of the most aggravating and most understood problems in the carpet industry. Pooling can truly result in rapid ugly out of carpet. To pool a carpet need not be soiled nor does it require texture change due to abrasion or foot traffic. Pooling and watermarking is unrelated to a carpets cost, maintenance and traffic. The best and worst maintained carpets can pool. Carpets and rugs of any fiber and any construction can pool and water mark. The worst news is that you may be decorating your home for the first time and unless the carpet in the house has a history of pooling, no on can determine if it is likely to happen to your beautiful new carpet or rug.
My grandson Seth is a little rug rat that loves the water and so do these three bears. While they all appear to be having a good time pooling, this is not the pooling we are talking about.
Carpet pooling is an irreversible, localized change in the orientation of the pile of textile floors covering. The phenomenon has different names in different countries. The terms we are most familiar with in the United States and Canada are “water marking” and “pooling”.
With pooling, some carpets develop areas where the pile appears to have been stained by water, hence, “water marking.”
Some carpets may develop areas that appear dirty. The carpet in this photo is not dirty. The large dark spot is the result of a difference in light reflection due to the pile reversal.
At some installations this appearance takes months to develop. At other installations it develops so rapidly that the consumer believes it to have been there since installation.
The carpet in this picture developed a severe pooling within a week of installation.
The carpet in this photo started to show pooling about five months after installation.
At a single installation the carpet may be installed in several rooms with the condition only developing in one or two of them. The area the condition develops in may be either a major traffic lane or even under furniture.
This condition routinely crosses seams. It even crosses between different color and styles of carpet and maintains a uniform pattern.
The photograph above shows an interface which is a narrow, conspicuous, irregular shaped serpentine line. This interface is often seen with pooling. The pile on the left side sweeps to the left. The pile on the right side sweeps to the right. The interface in the center sweeps upward and the pile in the interface has become very stiff feeling as if it had been starched.
Common Identifying Characteristics of Pooling
- Areas of carpet may look wet as though someone has spilled water on it but the carpet will be perfectly dry.
- Areas reverse in shade when viewed from opposite directions. When the areas are brushed with the hand a sharp difference in pile direction can be seen and felt.
- A narrow, conspicuous, irregular shaped serpentine line (referred to as an interface) usually develops at the edge of the pooled area. The pile at the narrow interface will run in a direction yet. The pile on both sides of the interface will be strongly oriented in opposite directions. As an example the pile at the interface may be oriented north while the pile on one side of the interface is facing east and on the other side it is facing west.
- Water marking often gives the carpet a highly objectionable appearance. Some carpets become downright ugly appearing as if it has been badly stained or allowed to become filthy within a short time of installation. As objectionable and as rapidly as this appearance change may occur, carpet manufacturers consider it a site-related condition and with rare exception will they offer the consumer any type of an adjustment. Water marking is a condition that cannot be permanently corrected.
The CRI States that Pooling is a Site Related Condition
The Carpet and Rug Institute in its manual titled Pile Reversal (”Shading”, “Water Marking”) states: At the present time, the only conclusion which can be drawn is that pile reversal may develop on the surface of some carpet after it is installed, and that pile reversal is not due to the materials which are used to produce the carpet, the manufacturing process, or any combination of these factors.
Some of the more common reasons Water Marking (Pooling) are considered site related is:
- Carpet off of the same roll is installed in different areas and the condition only develops in some areas.
- The condition will cross seams between different color, styles, and textures of different manufactures.
- The condition can sometimes be seen on installed carpet and an area rug above it.
- Replacing the carpet with another carpet of any fiber will often result in a repeat of the same condition. Pooling (Water Marking, Pile Reversal)Pooling and water marking are forms of shading and pile reversal that the pile of a carpet can experience.
IICRC Provides Expert Counsel to State Legislatures
May 14, 2008 – VANCOUVER, Wash. – The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification’s (IICRC) Government Affairs Committee, established in late 2007, has recently assisted in educating state legislatures considering new bills governing the inspection, cleaning and restoration industry. Read more
The delamination of carpet backing is one of the Read more
Top 5 Installation Mistakes and how to avoid them!
#5 – FAILURE TO SEQUENCE ROLLS BEFORE MAKING ANY CUTS
Many jobs are cut at the warehouse without consideration to floor layout or installation sequence. This is a huge oversight, which can lead to bowing, skewing, dye lot variations and pattern match problems.
There is a dye lot number, as well as a sequence number, within the dye lot on each roll ticket. In absence of the ticket, there is a time/data stamp on the backing, in military format that can be used to sequence cuts. Allow no more than five minutes of time to lapse between cuts for a more symmetrical installation.
#4 – FAILURE TO DRY LAY THE CARPET IN THE AREA TO BE INSTALLED PRIOR TO SPREADING GLUE
This is laying all cuts in sequence, trimming seams and checking pattern match, bow/skew/etc. This step is critical to allow the installer to make adjustments in the drops to ensure that pattern carpet runs true along perimeter walls, borders and columns.
Another advantage of dry laying is that any drops that have pattern deviations (bow, skew, elongation) can be removed from large open areas and used in offices or smaller areas where the effort required to correct these pattern deviations is minimal.
#3 -Failure to apply or improper application of seam sealer, which will result in edge ravel.
CRI 104 installation guidelines require that a 1/8″ continuous bead of seam adhesive be applied to the cut edge and sealer must be in the amount adequate to transfer to the opposite edge when seam edges are abutted. Sealer applied to the concrete next to the edge will not prevent edge ravel. In the eyes of most end users, 4′ of raveling in 100′ feet is unacceptable.
#2-FAILURE TO HAVE THE PROPER TOOLS ON THE JOB
This mistake includes wrong trowel notch size (1/8″ x 1/8″ x 1/8″ U-notch). This leads to inadequate adhesive spread rates and/or the absence of a powerstretcher and Deadman – or Roberts 10 – 117 Mini-Stretcher – for pattern match and bow/skew correction.
Insufficient adhesive makes pattern matching very difficult at best and many times impossible. The adhesive is what holds the carpet in place after the pattern has been matched or when bow/skew has been corrected. A kneekicker cannot move or stretch carpet as effectively as a mini stretcher or powerstretcher and Deadman. An installer on a pattern job without these tools is merely announcing his inexperience with patterned carpet.
#! -FAILURE to recognize that installing patterned carpet is much more complex than non-patterned-and therefore is more expensive to install- THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM!
Not recognizing this fact can result in delayed job completion, budget overruns and dissatisfied Customers. Allow ample time for patterned carpet installations.
By following these simple guidelines, you are on your way to a superior installation – problem FREE.
Originally pulished the summer 2002 issue of The CFI Professional published the following Patcraft Technical bulletin by Jim Burnett, CFI Certified Installer.
Wrinkles, which can be unsightly as well as create trip hazards, accelerate carpet wear, and cause the carpet to delaminate are rarely a result of manufacturing. Experience shows that proper installation techniques greatly reduce the potential for wrinkling.
Steps that can be taken during installation to prevent carpet from becoming loose are:
First, the carpet should be acclimated to the environment in which it is to be installed.
Cold, stiff carpet cannot be properly stretched, and it will eventually become warm, relax, and loose, regardless of how tightly it was originally stretched.
Second, carpet installed via the stretch-in installation method MUST be power stretched
1 to 1½% over both the length and width of the carpet (CRI-105 1995*, Section 9.14).
It is mandatory that the carpet be power stretched using power stretchers with extendable poles, not kicked with a knee kicker. Knee kickers are useful installation tools designed for positioning carpet, not for stretching. Power stretchers with tail pins or spikes, most often referred to as a “stinger” are not to be used because they may damage the face yarns, the primary and secondary backings, the cushion, and possibly even the floor.
Third, use the correct carpet cushion. Cushion that is too thick and too soft (low density) will allow excessive flexing of the carpet causing it to lose its stretch. CRI recommends cushion be no thicker than 7/16 inch for residential applications.
Fourth, the tack strip must be adequate to hold the applied stretch. For distances over 30 feet, use architectural strip with three rows of tacks. Position the strip no more than 3/8 inch from the wall or other vertical surfaces.
Finally, always refer to and follow manufacturer’s installation instructions and/or the CRI-105 Standard for Installation of Residential Carpet.
The severity of the potential bubbling or wrinkling can often be influenced by changes in temperature and humidity. In addition, carpet that is loose may also wrinkle and buckle when wet cleaned; however, it will oftentimes return to its original position upon drying.
Technical Bulletin: CARPET WRINKLES (”BUCKLES” or “BUBBLES”)CRI-99 Page 1 of 1 – The Carpet and Rug Institute, P.O. Box 2048, Dalton, Georgia 30722. Phone: 800-882-8846 x2125 Fax: 706-428-3125. E-mail: cri-tech@carpet-rug.com Website: www.carpet-rug.com
Owners of even the best-trained pets will occasionally encounter pet urine accidents. Often, the urine is not discovered until long after the accident. The types of damage from pet urine can be diverse and are dependent upon the makeup of the urine. Urine content will change over the pet’s life because of the pet’s diet, medications, age, health, sex, and reproductive cycles. Because of these variations, some urine stains may not be removable.
To treat urine-damaged areas, blot damp areas as soon as the urine is detected, with plain white paper toweling. Apply a solution of 1/4 teaspoon of a liquid dishwashing detergent (non-bleach and non-lanolin) with one cup of lukewarm water. Do not use automatic dishwashing detergent or aundry detergent. Absorb the moisture with paper towel, rinse with warm water and repeat the application of detergent. Continue rinsing and blotting with the detergent solution and water as long as there is a transfer to the toweling or improvement in the spot. Follow the detergent application with a solution of two tablespoons of ammonia with one cup of water. Rinse with warm water and repeat. Blot dry. Blot the area with a solution of one cup white vinegar to two cups water, and blot dry. Apply a half-inch layer of paper towels to the affected area, and weigh down with a flat, heavy, non-fading object. Continue to change paper towels until completely dry.
Urine can affect the dyes used in carpet, although not all occurrences will result in a permanent stain. Success is dependent upon the content of the urine, the dyes and finish used, and the time elapsed after the deposit. Some urine spots may be immediately noticeable, while others may take weeks or months for a reaction. The dyes may change color immediately after contact with urine. Color can sometimes be restored by treating the area with a solution of two tablespoons of a clear, non-sudsy ammonia in one cup of water. While this treatment is not always successful in restoring color, the ammonia can be effective in removing urine content and reducing objectionable odors.
When urine spots develop slowly and are noticed after much time has elapsed, the dyes and carpet fibers may be permanently damaged. In beige carpet, blue dyes are attacked by pet urine, leaving behind the red and yellow dyes with a resulting stain appearing red, yellow, or orange.
Pet urine, left unattended, can damage carpet in several ways. Moisture can weaken the layers of the carpet, allowing separation or delamination of the backing material. Seam areas can be particularly damaged and can separate.
Another problem, especially with cats, is odor. Unless the cat urine can be completely removed, complete odor removal is unlikely. A number of products are available to combat odor, but may simply mask the odor, and, in times of high humidity, the odor may reappear.
Recently, enzymes, available at pet stores and veterinary offices, have been developed that are more effective; but they may be better used by a carpet cleaning professional. If odor cannot be removed, the damaged area of the carpet can be replaced with a piece from reserved scrap. If carpet replacement is necessary, then replacement of cushion and even subflooring may also be necessary.
Some carpet manufacturers have developed backings that resist spills and even prevent the spillage from penetrating the carpet into the carpet cushion and, perhaps, the subfloor.
Check with your carpet dealer about these products.
Technical Bulletin #115
03/01 page 1 of 1
The Carpet and Rug Insitute