Is Commercial Carpet A Good Choice for Your Business?
Choosing the right commercial flooring can be a challenge, particularly when you have a long list of criteria you need your flooring choice to fill.
Fortunately, the last decade has seen a dramatic shift in the commercial flooring industry with new and innovative trends emerging that are changing the appearance and performance of commercial flooring. Carpet has remained popular over the years for commercial spaces because of it’s acoustic and foot traffic benefits. Businesses might also choose carpet because of style and appearance. Here we evaluate whether carpet is a good choice for commercial floors, including all the criteria you need to weigh up when choosing the ideal flooring for your commercial space.
Carpet Choices For Commercial Spaces
Commercial carpeting can come in many different styles and designs to match your commercial space and your needs. When it comes to carpet in commercial spaces
there are three ways to do it:
Broadloom carpet is also known as wall-to-wall carpet, and is the most traditional and well-known form of carpet in commercial spaces. This is where commercial carpet is fitted in a continuous form across the floor surface.
Modular carpet is also known as carpet tiles. Modular carpet is durable, easy to install, and easy to replace which makes it ideal for commercial spaces. Carpet tiles or smaller more manageable squares of carpet that are installed seamlessly side by side for a smooth carpet finish.
Area rugs are generally not as popular in commercial settings, although they are common in some business types like premium health care and hospitality. For the most part commercial area rugs are used as centerpieces and design tools in a commercial space, rather than a standalone form of flooring. However commercial area rugs can make an important addition to the ambience and style of a business and should be considered.
Evaluating Your Commercial Space
When deciding on the right carpet choice for your commercial space it’s important to look at the characteristics of the space you’re working with. Evaluating your commercial space is absolutely essential before deciding to install carpet flooring. This is because the function and characteristics of every commercial space is different. Just because carpet works well in one type of commercial space doesn’t mean it will perform as well in a different commercial space. Each commercial space needs to be assessed on its own merits before carpet is installed.
Carpet Tiles & Carpet Squares
Carpet tiles are a great DIY flooring option for your space. If you are looking to add a soft surface to add comfort your floors, Carpet Tile is a great option. Carpet tiles are cut into squares so they are great for odd shapes spaces, since you can easily cut and arrange the pieces. Carpet squares are much easier to install than traditional carpeting, and you can find different installation types like: Peel and Stick, Interlocking or Self Adhesive carpet tiles. If you go for an installation type that is not adhesive, be sure to pick up carpet tape so that you can install them yourself.
Installation:
Carpet squares are much easier to install than traditional carpeting, and you can find different installation types such as: Peel and Stick, Interlocking, Glue down, Adhesive Tabs, or Loose Lay carpet tiles. Self-adhesive carpet tiles are very easy to install, as all you have to do is peel off the adhesive backing and stick the Carpet Tile to the subfloor. Different types of carpet tile can be installed in your family room, bedroom, basement, play room, or outdoors. Outdoor carpet tile can be a great option for your patio or outdoor living room.
Style:
We have a variety of sizes and colors, so you’re sure to find a style that works with your home. Popular colors include light gray, yellow & gold, and blue. You can also find a variety of textures for your carpet, including loop pile, cut pile, or shag carpet tile. Carpet tile comes in a variety of thicknesses including thin, medium, and thick. Many carpet tiles come with padding attached, making the carpet feel more softer and plush under foot.
Cleaning & Care:
Carpet squares are constructed of a variety of synthetic materials like polypropylene or polyester and nylon offer great stain resistant and water resistant properties.Carpet tiles are easy to clean as well. Since many of the squares come with a peel and stick application, you can remove them easily from the subfloor. Once the square is removed, you can either clean or replace the carpet tile.
Carpet tiles are a great option for areas with heavy traffic because they are so easy to clean. Since many of our carpet squares come with a peel and stick application you can take them up for cleaning. The variety of synthetic materials like polypropylene or polyamid and nylon offer great stain resistant and bleach resistant properties.
Best Commercial Carpet
If you’re considering carpet for your new office space, it’s important to choose the right product for your application. According the Carpet Buyers Handbook, “synthetic fibers make up more than 99% of the fiber used by the U.S. carpet industry.” Most carpets used in commercial applications are usually Nylon, Olefin or Polypropylene and are constructed in loop, cut pile (both broadloom) or carpet tile. Each of these fibers has its own set of strengths and weaknesses that can be used to help determine which type of carpet fits your needs.
Things to think about when choosing commercial carpet:
What’s your budget?
When it comes to commercial carpet, pricing can run the gamut. Remember that unlike hard surface flooring, carpet will take a beating and will eventually show wear. It’s helpful to decide how long you want to keep the carpet too, and that may influence your cost decision. If you spend less, you may have to replace it sooner, and if you spend more to get a higher quality product, it will last longer. So it’s important to weigh the cost of replacement against spending a higher amount up front.
What kind of fiber is best for my installation?
Most commercial carpet is made of Nylon, Olefin or Polypropolene. Olefin/Polypropolene carpet is usually the carpet of choice if you are on strict budget. It stands up well to “moderate” amounts of traffic. Analyze how much foot traffic you will have to help determine the level of durability you will need. Olefin/Polypropolene carpets are “solution dyed” so they have very good stain resistance. These carpets also work well in low traffic areas or an office or space that you aren’t in for the long haul.
Nylon, on the other hand, is the highest quality fiber carpet for a commercial installation. It’s more expensive, but it’s also more durable so it will inherently look better longer. Like the Olefin/Polypropolene fiber carpet, Nylon products are solution dyed and offer the same level stain resistance. You will get more bang for your buck with Nylon if you have heavy foot trafficked areas, so spending a bit more may be to your benefit over the life of the carpet.
What kind of maintenance will I need?
Like any floor covering, carpet will need to be taken care of in order to last. Be sure you are familiar with your manufacturer warranties and suggested maintenance instructions in advance.
The Best Flooring For Kitchens
The Best Flooring for Kitchens
The kitchen is one of the most high-traffic areas of the home, with kids and pets tracking in dirt and cooking spills happening on occasion no matter how hard you might try to avoid it. You can experiment all you want with carpet in other rooms where the floor will take less of a beating, but kitchen flooring should be practical above all else.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to forego aesthetics. When looking for suitable flooring for what is arguably the busiest room in the house, we typically recommend materials based on qualities including longevity, durability, and resistance to scratches and the elements for years to come.
Trendy and Low-Maintenance
Vinyl flooring remains the most obvious choice for kitchens, and there are certainly plenty of designs on the market that look suitably hip while remaining strong enough to withstand water stains, spills, dirt, and grime.
Sleek and Traditional
If you have perused any home décor blogs recently, you might have been wondering why on earth so many families have chosen wood flooring for their kitchen. The reality is that they’ve most likely opted for wood-look tile flooring, a very trendy alternative to the timeless appearance of simple white or grey tile.
With a variety of textures, colors, and woodgrains to choose from, you can create the illusion of untainted hardwood in your kitchen and maintain a clean cooking and living space in your home for years to come.
Why Did Anyone Think Carpet in the Bathroom Was a Good Idea?
Look, you think a lot of crazy things when you’re a kid, and I now know that my love for carpet in the bathroom was categorically wrong. Having never lived in a home with carpet in the bathroom, I dismissed my mother’s concerns about mildew as those of a person not sufficiently committed to cutting-edge design. I now realize that carpet in the bathroom was just one of the many things about which my mother eventually turned out to be right.
These days, most people have come to their senses regarding the carpet in the bathroom situation. On a recent Reddit thread, one user asked: People of Reddit with carpet in their bathrooms, why? No one had anything good to say about this. There was one user who admitted that “It’s comfy,” but they still blamed their home’s previous owners for the wall-to-wall
But the question remains: why did anyone think this was a good idea to begin with? This Retro Renovation interview about the history of carpet, although it doesn’t specifically mention bathrooms, sheds a little light on the issue. Up until that point, wall-to-wall carpeting was an indulgence that was out of the reach of the average American family. Changes in carpet-making technology and post war prosperity led to a boom in its use, but carpet still retained those feelings of luxury and newness. What could be more luxurious than adding carpet to a humble space like the bathroom? And if you could, for a second, ignore the possibility of mold, doesn’t sinking your toes into a nice plush bathmat that covers your entire bathroom sound kind of nice?
Though they may be few and far between, carpet in the bathroom does have its modern-day adherents. When an Apartment Therapy poll asked readers to vote on carpet in the bathroom, most of you were overwhelmingly opposed, but about 8% (26 people, to be exact) were in favor.
While it seems everything ’70s is making a comeback these days, this is one trend I don’t see returning anytime soon. But hey, everyone has weird things that make them happy—you might be in the minority for loving your carpeted bathroom, but you are most certainly not alone.