Carpet – Temperature Concerns and Roll Crush

Just last week I visited a client who had some concerns about a recently installed carpet.  The carpet is in a large office building that was not yet occupied.  His concerns were, that at a distance, particularly with the lights off, he could see small waves in the carpet and some differences in shading.

As we are constantly focused on client service, I decided to pay a visit myself to determine the cause of the problem and help to alleviate his concerns.  The first thing that struck me, upon entering the building was the temperature which, according to the thermostat was registering 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  As there were not yet any tenants in the building our client had decided to turn the thermostats down after installation in order to save the cost of heating the building.  As an industry standard, carpet warranties recommend that temperature be maintained at a minimum of 65 degrees Fahrenheit before, during, and after installation.  That being said, we have clients who maintain lower temperatures after installation, in the 55 degree range without a problem.

After a little further review I also noticed that the carpet was showing some signs of roll crush.  Roll crush, as known in the carpet industry, is the visible matting of a carpet pile that has been recently installed.  Carpet is typically 12 feet wide and comes in rolls upwards of 200 feet long.  At that size, depending on the style of carpet, it can be in excess of 1,000 pounds.  The weight of that individual carpet, combined with the weight of additional rolls of carpet, often stacked on top of each other for shipping, can crush the carpet fiber.  A severe case of roll crush can often take a couple weeks and multiple vacuum passes (with a vacuum equipped with a beater bar to agitate the fibers) in order for the carpet fiber to lift and return to its normal state.   I have seen that roll crush is significantly more prevalent in nylon fiber carpets.

Given my observations I recommended a temperature increase, a little time, and some vacuuming of the carpet.  Following a week of increased temperature and multiple days of vacuuming I am happy to report that the carpet has bounced back into shape and we have yet another satisfied customer!