U Shape Spots
This report was done for an insurance company where a carpet of lessor density is installed in place of a carpet of the same weight. An 'U Shape Spot' starts forming that was likely due in part to the pile height and weight.
THE CARPET
FIBER: Nylon
ID METHOD: Chemical
FIBER COLOR: Tan
CONSTRUCTION: Conventional Tuft
YARN STYLE: Saxony
SQUARE YARDAGE: Not Given
BACK SYSTEM: Conventional Tuft
PRIMARY BACKING: Polypropylene
SECONDARY BACKING: Polypropylene
INSTALLATION STATISTICS
TYPE LOCATION: Residential
DATE INSTALLED: 3/7/00
METHOD: Stretch-In
CUSHION: 7/16-Inch Rebond 8 Lb./Cu. Ft.
SUBFLOOR: Concrete Slab
AREA INSTALLED: Livingroom, Family Room, & Hallway
USE & MAINTENANCE STATISTICS AT THE TIME OF THE INSPECTION
LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: No
ADULTS: 2 - CHILDREN: 0 - PET(S): 2 - Dogs
DO THEY SMOKE? Yes
SPOTTING AGENTS: ReSolveŽ
TEMPERATURE: 73.5°F - 23.0° C RH 51%
VACUUM TYPE: Upright
VACUUM FREQUENCY: Two Or Three Times A Week
ENTRY-MATS: Yes
SOIL: See Report
HEATING TYPE: Forced Air Gas
COOLING TYPE: Central - Electric
CLEANING: Professionally Cleaned
METHOD: Truckmount Steam
TYPE OF CHEMICAL: Not Reported
DATE LAST CLEANED: Not Given
TREATMENTS APPLIED: None Reported
SITE CONDITIONS
This is an owner-occupied, single-story, 1500 square foot house that was reported
by the claimant to have been built in 1986. Other homes in the neighborhood were similar
in size and appearance.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
This neighborhood is in the Antelope Valley, which is approximately 60 miles
north east of downtown Los Angeles.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION MADE TO THE INSPECTOR
On February 25, 2000, the claimant reported a leak from a water pipe, which
necessitated the replacement of his carpet in the livingroom, diningroom, and hallway. It
was discovered that an alkaline soil condition caused this leaking pile to corrode. The
old carpet, which was reported to be the original carpet, was not replaced in the bedrooms
nor was it deemed necessary.
In late January of 2001, new moisture was discovered as well as lines that deteriorated
the appearance of the new carpet. This problem had not been noticed on the old carpet.
Because of these problems, the claimant had the carpet cleaned by the company mentioned in
the statistical information. Spots were successfully removed during cleaning but returned
upon drying. Unusual lines remained in the carpet.
The claimant also reports that they have a consumer type steam cleaning machine and have
used a steam cleaning extraction solution from Sears. They report that their dogs have had
accidents, but these accidents have been rare.
The commissioner reports that samples of the old and new carpet were sent to Independent
Testing and Evaluation Laboratory of Jacksonville, Florida for the evaluation of pile
height, yarn weight, pitch & gauge. According to Independent Testing and Evaluation
Laboratory, their testing adds and subtracts seven percent to their results for an
approximate result for the weight test.
DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM AREA BY THIS INSPECTOR
Both the claimant and his wife showed the inspector the family room in the back
of the house. A foot long 'U' or oval shaped spot/line was pointed out as one of the
problems. This spot was reportedly one of the ones that returned after the carpet was
cleaned. It was brown and had no odor. Another fainter spot was noted by this inspector
between the diningroom table and the front entrance. In these other examples, the 'U's
seemed to make ovals. Borders in these ovals were somewhat straight.
Shading and significant crushing of the yarns was noticed when looking towards a
sliding-glass-door that leads to the backyard. Looking in the other direction, odd shape
oval spots were seen. These ovals had dark borders with irregular edges that made the
reported lines. They were approximately a foot long. They stopped at the point where foot
traffic was heavy. Looking at these ovals from other directions caused the appearance to
become less noticeable. Looking behind chairs in an area not accessible by foot traffic
these same spots were noted, but to a lesser degree.
Next, this inspector was directed down the hallway. In front of the claimant's wife's
bedroom door, severe crushing and a spot were noted. This spot had a musty or urine odor.
Crushing of the traffic lanes was moderate to heavy elsewhere in this hallway.
The carpet was lifted up in a corner of the livingroom and the holes made by the tackless
strip nails indicated improper power stretching. The cushion from a professional judgement
was the 8 Lb./cubit foot density reported in the statistical information. This information
was given verbally by the claimant.
A comparison of the old and new carpet showed the new carpet to have a taller pile height,
but it appeared to be less dense. The secondary backing of the old carpet was jute; the
backing of the new carpet appeared to be brittle, indicative of excessive filler. The yarn
of the old carpet was of a much darker hue.
IN FIELD AND LABORATORY TESTING
An ultra-violet light was used to draw a reflection from substances with
fluorescent dyes, such as urine and inappropriate detergents.
ˇ A green reflection was found in the 'U' shape spot in the diningroom possibly
indicating urine mixed with detergent.
ˇ A lavender reflection came from the spot that had a urine smell near the diningroom
table indicating mainly detergent.
ˇ The same lavender reflection came from the Steam Extraction detergent from Sears
indicating that it was the detergent used in the spots.
ˇ Another lavender reflection came from the spot in front of the claimant's wife's
bedroom door
ˇ Other lavender reflections were noted in the rest of the hallway.
ˇ No reflections were noted in the oval spots and/or lines in the family room.
Numerous moisture tests were performed using a Delmhorst Moisture Sensor. This test would
indicate the presence of moisture locked-up in salt compounds from urine and excessive
detergent residues. The results of these tests showed moisture in some of the spots, but
no readings in the ovals except for the one that looked like a foot long 'U'.
Numerous pH tests were taken using a digital type pH meter with a low moisture probe that
made direct contact with the faceyarns. All tests were made using distilled water with a
pH of 7.0.
ˇ The test results were between 6.6 to 6.8 in non-spotted areas indicating normal soiling
conditions. The ovals in the livingroom that did not have moisture readings all had 6.6 to
6.8 reading indicating no aqueous residues.
ˇ The 'U' shape spot was between 7.0 to 7.2 indicating some detergent residue.
ˇ The spot near the diningroom table was 9.7 and suds were made with the agitation of the
carpet indicating a lot of detergent.
ˇ Another spot seen near the livingroom had a reading that was 5.7, but there were no
suds indicating just the presence of urine.
ˇ In the spot in front to of the claimant's wife's door the reading was 3.2 indicating
something more acidic than urine.
An ammonium salts test was performed using an electronic probe with a millivolt meter.
Ammonium salts are by-products of urine. The results of this test revealed that there were
ammonium salts in most of the spots, but not in non-affected areas which would strongly
support the presence of urine.
A Pile Direction Test was done using a piece of paper and a pencil on the oval spots and
the pile direction was found to go in all directions indicating change in the natural lay
of yarns.
Independent Testing and Evaluation Laboratory of Jacksonville, Florida results for the
pile height, yarn weight, pitch & gauge of both the old and new carpet are:
Pile Height Approx. Face Weight
Fiber Type
OLD CARPET 0.35 inches 29.63 - 34.63
Nylon Saxony
NEW CARPET 0.5 inches 28.27 - 33.27
Nylon Saxony
THE ISSUES
The questions that I have been asked to address are to determine
1. Whether the new carpet is of the same kind and qualify as the old carpet.
2. What has caused the oval spots?
GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ISSUE
ASTM stands for the AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS. The ASTM
Institute for Standards Research (ISR) is a service designed to assist ASTM technical
committees and private and public sector consortia in the development of technical
information that supports their objectives. Some of the services provided by ISR include
grant and contract administration, technical project management (i.e., for test method
validation, reference material development, etc.), industry consortia management, and
accelerated standards development support. ISR activities are financially supported by the
activity stakeholders and may result in the development of educational workshops,
publications, research data to support ASTM standards development, or other related
products.
FHA/HUD publishes standards for carpet in a document called UM44. It is the common
practice of carpet inspectors to use this document as guideline for evaluating carpet
issues.
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 installations, areas of responsibility for manufacturers, dealers, and
installers, and a manual for making claims with a carpet producer. The accepted standards
for this installation would be the CRI105-1995 and the manufacturer's installation
specifications.
INDUSTRY STANDARDS & DEFINITIONS
According to the FLOOR COVERING DICTIONARY, it says this.
SHADING - An optical effect cased by light reflection on the carpet pile giving the
appearance of alternate lighter or darker areas. Examination will show that the tuft are
actually of a uniform color and are restored to a one-color effect when the pile is
smoothed in one direction. This characteristic is most notable in cut loop constructions,
particularly pile carpets. In addition, in cut-pile fabrics, an apparent change in color
when the pile is bent, caused by differences in the way light is reflected off the bent
fibers. This phenomenon is a characteristic of pile fabrics, not a defect.
LATEX - A water emulsion of synthetic rubber, natural rubber, or other polymer. In carpet,
latex is used for lamination secondary backings to tufted carpet, backcoating carpet and
rugs, and for manufacturing foamed cushion. Almost all carpet latex consists of
styrene-butadiene synthetic rubber (SSR) compounded with large quantities of powdered
fillers. The latter are most often whiting, which is calcium carbonate. Latex is raw
material from which rubber is made.
According to the CARPET AND RUG INSTITUTES's CLAIMS MANUAL, it says this about side
matches.
Pile crushing, pile shading, and soiling are not manufacturing defects and will not be
considered as a basis for claims. Claims for fuzzing and pilling will be subjected to
examination and testing by the manufacturer. Claims for missing tufts will not be
considered except on a basis of repair. No claims will be honored for carpet installed on
stairs, in elevators and in bathrooms. The mill reserves the right to correct any
repairable manufacturing defect. (See Glossary for definition of terms).
THE INSPECTOR'S ANALYSIS
The insurance term "Like Kind & Quality" (LKQ) is without strict boundaries
and the old and new carpets share the same construction method, fiber and yarn style. They
are likely of similar weight. The significant difference is in the pile height. The common
practice of carpet dealers with respect to LKQ is to maintain the same construction
method, which in this case is tufting, and the same fiber, that is nylon. Maintaining the
same pile height has not been the common practice.
While 'Like Kind & Quality' has likely been maintained, the overall performance of the
new carpet is less than the old because it is less dense. Density is an important element
in controlling performance and is covered in UM44. When the weights are the same, density
goes down as pile height is increased. (The density is the weight divided by the volume
and volume is height times the width, times the height.) The old carpet's pile height is
approximately 70 percent of the new, making an approximately 30 percent difference in the
density.
Pile distortions such as crushing and shading are some of the things of which density is a
factor, but the backing system, the crushing, and power stretching are issues too. Pile
reversal is what has created most of the strange ovals; however, ovals are not the
expected shape of pile reversal from this style of carpet or from errors made in the
installation. The ovals are a rare phenomena of which the inspector can find no written
text to give additional information about their nature. They are likened somewhat to the
phenomena known as 'Pooling' where pile directions are changed due to the plush nature of
some cut pile carpets and to some unknown forces unique to that dwelling. Serpentine
borders are also a noticeable characteristic of pooling. In this case, this cut pile
carpet is not plush and the previous carpet was denser, but no pile distortion was
reported. The shade is likened to broken pieces of a clay plate and there is suspicion
that this may be related to the backing system.
Another problem in the backing system appears to be an excessive amount of powdery or
brittle substances. Although backings are to contain large quantities of clay and filler,
they to have elasticity from the SBR latex to pull back and lock onto the tackless strip
nails. This carpet has not been properly power stretched and laboratory testing would be
necessary to determine if it is defective from an excessive amount of brittle substances.
When spots return upon drying as reported by the claimant, they are likely due to the
phenomena known as 'wicking'. Wicking of this sort is due to an incomplete removal of a
spot in the cleaning process that migrated to the surface during the drying process.
Wicking problems can be eliminated by recleaning the spots and then placing either a towel
or absorbent compound over the formally spotted area to receive additional materials that
come to the surface.
The moisture, pH, ultraviolet light, and ammoniated salt tests all support the 'U' shape
spot and others as containing urine. Generally, only moisture, pH, and ultraviolet light
are needed to prove urine. The ammoniated salt tests offer overwhelming evidence that
urine is present.
CONCLUSION
Based upon background information, observations, and field-testing done at the time of the
inspection, it is the inspector's professional opinion that:
1. The new carpet is of the same kind and qualify as the old carpet based upon its weight
and fiber type. Density is not a consideration for like kind & quality.
2. The ovals are due to changes in pile direction from forces, which will require
additional research.