Installation Errors On Olefin BerberThis report was done for a consumer.THE CARPETFIBER/ ID METHOD: Olefin - Burn COLOR: White CONSTRUCTION: Tufted Looped STYLE: Berber YARDAGE: 91 BACK SYSTEM: Conventional Tufted PRIMARY BACKING: Polypropylene SECONDARY BACKING: Polypropylene THE INSTALLATION TYPE OF INSTALLATION: Residential DATE INSTALLED: 11/12/94 METHOD: Stretch-In CUSHION: 1/2 Inch Rebond DENSITY: 4 SUBFLOOR: Concrete AREA INSTALLED: Livingroom, Den, Hallway, Three Bedrooms USE & MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF INSPECTION LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: ADULTS: 2 CHILDREN: 1 PETS: 2 TYPE OF PET(s): TEMPERATURE 70.6°F - 21.4° C RELATIVE HUMIDITY: 48% PROBLEM REPORTED The claimant states that the seams have failed and the installation does not look right. THE REPORT Geographical Background Information The carpet in question is located in a free standing house in a residential neighborhood. The maintenance and condition of the house and neighborhood is good. THE CLAIM HISTORY The claimant purchased the carpet in question as a home improvement project. The installation was performed over November 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 of 1996. November the 17, 1996 was reportedly a day of corrections. A report 130 yards of carpet was order for this job. The claimant was not pleased with the location of some seams. Due to the extraordinary long installation time the claimant decided to have a full investigation made to determined what other problems exited with the installation. DETAILED PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM The seams in the living room run the width of the room parallel with a sliding glass door as seen in the diagram and from photograph number one. A two foot one inch by two foot seven inch section of this carpet lies in the corner of the living room as seen in photograph number two. The carpet does not have an even appearance near the wall’s edge as seen in photograph number three, next to the sliding glass door. Also, the seams open up when foot traffic is applied to either side as seen in photograph number five. The carpet was pulled back also in the sliding glass door edge. The tackless strip is dark and has an appearance of mildew, as seen in photograph number four. There was also another long seam close to the door in the master bed-room, that start in a pivoting traffic area. TESTING Pile direction tests were performed using a sheet of paper and an ordinary pencil. By rolling the pencil over the paper while the paper is laying over the carpet will reveal the "lay of the carpet". The result of the test was that the carpet runs the same direction where seams come together. The tackless strip was measured in the livingroom, the den, family-room, and master bedroom. The gully between the wall’s edge and the tackless strip was 7/8 inch, as seen in photograph number seven. A carpet stretch test was performed. The test involved a professional opinion by the inspector to determine whether a power stretcher was used on the installation. The industry standard is drum tight. After pulling the carpet up by the face yarns and letting it pop-back into place is was determined that the carpet was not drum tight. A bundle saturation test was made using the Q T E FIBERLOCK TESTER. This test is generally run where piling and fuzzing is observed. This device is a two pound roller that is covered with a special long hook material. When rolled back and forth in the machine direction on any loop pile carpet face, an observable evaluation of the bundle saturation can be made. The Fiberlock Test will perform exactly the same way as foot or wheel traffic. After 30 cycles were made, there was considerable carpet fuzz as seen in photograph number eight. An ultra-violet light was shone throughout the installation. This tool draws a yellow reflection from most urine stains and a blue or lavender reflection from detergents with optical brightening agents. Seam sealers are used to tightly bond carpet edges together and to seal the trimmed edge from fraying. The result of this test was that there was no observable seam sealer THE ISSUE The questions that I have been asked to address are: what caused the seam failure and was this carpet installed according to industry standards? CONDITIONS THAT CAN CAUSE THE PROBLEM Seam Failures Can Occur When 1. cleaning has over saturated a natural fiber backing causing shrinkage 2. extraordinary foot or mechanical action has been rendered to the carpet 3. there is a failure in the installation systems THE RULES According to the Floor Covering Dictionary Berber is a loop-pile design originally comprised of natural colored, bully wood yarns in a woven construction. Today’s berber style carpet is made primarily of bulky, loop-piled, nylon or polypropylene yarns in a tufted construction., A North African tribe nomad called the "berbers" are credited for the origin of this style. Looped Pile - A pile surface made of uncut looped yarns. In woven carpet, loop pile is sometimes referred to as round wire carpet. Loop piles can be patterned, or textured. On page 21 concerning seam sealer it says: CRI is The Carpet and Rug Institute of Dalton, Georgia. It is a national trade association representing the carpet and rug industry. Their membership makes-up 95% of all the carpet made in the United States. Their publications include standards for residential and commercial installation, areas of responsibility for manufacturers, dealers, and installers, and a manual for making claims with a carpet producer. The following text in from the CRI105 RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATION STANDARD: On page five of the CRI105 it says this about power stretching: Stretching of the carpet . . . all carpet shall be power stretched. Tautness of the carpet is essential to assure a good, long lasting installation. It will also enhance the performance of the carpet and help prevent wrinkling or buckling. Page 15 of the CRI105 says this about power stretching: 9.14 Power Stretching - Following seaming, carpet must be power stretched and firmly hooked onto the tackless strip at the starting walls in surrounding area. The use of a power stretcher is mandatory. Before power stretching, make certain that hot melt tape seams are cool to the touch. 11.6 Seaming To prevent fraying and raveling at the seams, a 1/8 inch (3 mm) continuous bead of seam adhesive should be applied to the base of the first edge where the face yarn enters the backing. ( See diagram below) This will seal the first edge as well as the second when the edges are butted together to form the seam. 11.61 All cut seam edges on woven carpet must be secured with a latex seam adhesive immediately following seam trimming. Concerning tackling strip and gully width the CRI105 says this: 9.4 Installation of tackless Strip · Full length pieces of tackless strip should be spread around the wall perimeter with pins pointing toward the wall. · The proper gully shall be slightly less than thickness of the carpet, but not to exceed 318 inch (10 mm). · The tackless strip should be cut to proper lengths to maintain the same gully regardless of the shape of the wall. · The tackless strip must be securely fastened to maintain the proper stretch provided by power stretching- Two nails (fastening points) are required for the smallest pieces of tackless strip. · Carpet should NOT by stapled to the tackless strip · Avoid placing tackless strip across door openings or door sills where possible. Concerning seam locations the CRI 105 says this: 8.2 Seams - Seams shall be kept to a minimum. The seams shall be positioned so that where possible: · The seams run the length of the area. · Main traffic runs along rather than across the seam. · Incident light does not strike across the seam. · The seams are away from areas subject to pivoting traffic. · Seams are not perpendicular to doorway openings. DISCUSSION The seam in the living room running parallel with the sliding glass door is very noticeable and is not in compliance with the standards. Seam are to run perpendicular into glass doors and large windows. The reason the carpet dips close to the wall is because it too is not in compliance with the gully width standard of being snug with the carpet. The reason the seam opens with set on is because there is no seam sealer adhesive holding the premature backing in place. The seaming tape is the only thing holding the secondary backing. The two foot one inch by two foot seven inch section of the living room is an excessive seam but is not a clear violation of the standards. The lack of power stretch can be a cause of future delamination of the carpet. Manufacturers do not normally warranty this type of failure when installation standards have not been followed. The fuzzing from the Q. E. T. test is an indication of manufacturer’s defects. However, it is very common to Berber style carpet thus not often warranties as a manufacturer’s defect. Further laboratory test would be necessary to show manufacturer’s defect. There is conflict of measurement that should be double check for any possible errors. The amount of carpet order was reportedly 130 yards. The amount measured for the purpose of the drawing was 91. Normally there is a 12 to 13 percent allowance for overage in an installation. The difference in these two numbers is 30 percent. The measurement for the drawing was done electronically and can be subject to error. However, error in the past have been rare. CONCLUSION The reason for the poor seams is an installation error. This carpet installation is not in compliance with the CRI105 STANDARDS FOR RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATION. RECOMMENDATIONS This carpet can be fixed, but it is recommended that more carpet should be ordered and the living room be quarter turned. The seams must run perpendicular with the sliding glass door. The tackless strip next to the sliding glass door should be replaced. There is concern as to whether the hues will match if more carpet is ordered. If the roll numbers and dye lot numbers are the same, the chances of an even match is almost 100%.l. Other than that the chances are very high, due to the fact that this is olefin. Olefin is solution dyed while the fiber is still liquid and before it is made into fiber. Thus there is more control and less variance based upon chance. In all locations where the carpet dips into the wall the tackless strip should be replaced and the new strip should be placed using the proper gully width. All seams need to be redone with an appropriate seaming adhesive. After all of this is done the carpet should be power stretched and trimmed. All cut edges should be sealed with a seam adhesive. |