Page 74 - CFJ_Feb26

ADVICE & INFORMATION

When a new carpet goes wrong

lack of entrance/barrier matting to and gives a bulge to the edge of the ground floor of the hotel, and with such
clean footwear before it came into carpet which, in due course, results in a small rechargeable battery it had very
contact with the carpet? After all, the the carpet edge lifting and fraying still little ‘oomph’ (that’s a technical term of
carpet looks more like seven years than further. mine) and would maintain this for short
seven months old. Or was the carpet The doorbars and edge trims had also bursts only.
unsuitable for this setting? not been dressed down to hold the edge Putting everything together, the
Whatever my thoughts were at that of the carpet. state of the carpet was the result of
stage, conclusions only come after a A fitting problem, perhaps? Poor several factors, most of which could
thorough inspection and consideration fitting was also confirmed when I found be dealt with but the other factor had
of all the factors, so I continued with overcuts on external corners and places completely ruined the carpet.
the visit. where the installer had folded back The fundamental problem was the
The scruffy appearance of the carpet the carpet to cut it but had not taken very poor fitting. Flatweaves are not
wasn’t helped by the fact that it was adequate care and had also cut the like tufted or woven carpets and require
coming loose in places around the loops of the pile underneath. Was this specialist fitting to ensure the edges
perimeter and in the doorbars. I lifted a enough to form a conclusion? are sealed and don’t fray. They are
loose edge and found the carpet edge When I’d finished looking at all the also unforgiving when you put a knife
had not been sealed, which is essential areas I had a short de-brief with the against the surface, unlike pile carpets
on flatweaves and naturals. The warp hotel manager and asked about how where a slash into the pile end-on may
yarns where the carpet had been cut they had cleaned and maintained the do little harm, although it should still be
were lifting and opening up for about 15 carpet. Simple: vacuumed daily, she avoided.
mm due to the structure of the weave. said. When I asked to see the vacuum The fraying of the edges and other
What was also obvious was that the I was ushered to the very back of the issues would require this carpet to be
installer had used standard gripper with building and into a hidden room full of replaced, but the project manager and
pins to try and fix the perimeter of a useful stuff that needed to be kept out hotelier needed to know about the
double-stuck installation. As the pins of sight of clients. other issues.
are set at 60deg and pointing towards The housekeeper proudly pointed to Fitting an expensive carpet without
the wall, when the carpet is laid into the tiny vacuum cleaner on the wall. any consideration of how it will be
the adhesive it doesn’t sit on the pins So small it would take all day to do the used, and how soiling will be kept away
from it, is folly. The specifiers knew this
‘Poor specification, poor fitting, and was a hotel and any reasonable walk
around would show that soiling could
poor maintenance doomed the carpet’ be brought in to almost every room
on the ground floor directly from the
paving and lawns outside. This was a
commercia setting and vital information
that would have ensured a long-lasting
installation had been overlooked. The
carpet was of commercial grade, but
that doesn’t make a carpet bullet-proof.
The third issue was that the carpet
was not being maintained effectively. It
would be easy to assume that a hotel
would have the knowledge of how to
maintain their premises in the best
possible condition and would have
the right equipment to carry out the
maintenance effectively and reasonably
quickly.
The three parties involved in this
matter had all made assumptions
that had resulted in a sorry looking
installation. It hadn’t been specified,
installed or maintained correctly, and
each of the parties responsible ought
to have been expert in their part of the
contract! 
www.richard-renouf.com
Richard Renouf is an independent
flooring consultant

74 CFJ February 2026 www.contractflooringjournal.co.uk
@CFJMagazine