Carpet flooring

Carpet floorings are perfect solution to obtain modern, aesthetic and practical floor in offices, hotels, restaurants and many other public utility buildings. Below are presented several tips how to select the right coverings from our wide range of carpet floorings.

 Structure of carpet flooring

Carpet flooring consists of fleece which constitutes surface wearing surface, and from backing in which fleece is set.

Fleece, which is the surface layer of carpet flooring, might be in shape of characteristic loops or dense, bristle fibres or tangled, compact fibres. They are called, respectively, loop, cut (or velour) and needled carpets.

Loop carpets consist of typical loops, or high-low loops forming so-called structural pattern, or of bucle loops – thick threads, and cut or twisted loops – Saxony type. They are usually called “loop piles”. They are most often used in offices.

Cut carpets constitute more or less densely woven single fibres creating wearing surface similar to suede or velour. In pattern books it is often described as “cut pile”. Typically applied in hotels, offices. The most popular carpet of this type is Arazzo.

Needled carpets have structure similar to felt – very densely tangled and compact fibres. Applied both in offices and in commercial centres in large chain stores.

Fibre type

Raw material for fleece constitute polypropylene, polyamide or wool fibres. Also compositions of these fibres might be used.

Polypropylene is the oldest type of fibres used, less durable than polyamide fibres and with slightly lower colour fastness. Considering structure of threads, polypropylene fibres are more difficult to clean.

Polyamide fibres – currently the most popular type of fibres, modern and with the best flameproof characteristics. Those smooth fibres are easy to clean. Often made of solution dyed threads, due to which colours stay extremely fast even if frequently cleaned. Polyamide fibres are elastic and unbreakable, which means for the end user that polyamide floor covering will not undergo a deformation or pressing. Depending on manufacturer, polyamide factory name is Antron, Imprel etc.

Wool – traditional, expensive raw material, most difficult in everyday maintenance for which reasons it is rarely used. It occurs in compositions with other fibres, e.g. in hotel carpet floorings of ‘axminster’ type.

Carpet floorings are available in rolls or tiles. Depending on this, fleece is set in synthetic jute (so-called action back) in shape of a net on the undersurface of the carpet – in case of rolls, or on rigid bitumen backing – in case of tiles. Less often felt or other types of backings are used.

Floor coverings available in tiles 50 cm x 50 cm

Rolls are a traditional solution. For the last few years more and more popular have become carpet tiles, a perfect solution for public utility buildings. Modular structure enables e.g. easy creation of intriguing patterns, quick replacement of a single tile, swift dismantling of the floor covering without the risk of damaging it in case of renovation. Floor coverings on bitumen backing are more durable and feature excellent sound attenuation characteristics. We recommend you particularly popular one-coloured collections: Namib, Kalahari or modern linear patterns, e.g.: Sahara, Sonora or Black&.

Difficulty of ignition

One of the essential parameters for coverings is ignition classification describing coverings’ behaviour in case of fire. Such information is provided in conformity certificate or in CE certificate, which each of the coverings should absolutely be equipped with. There are two distinguished classes describing safe materials: Bfl-sl and Cfl-sl. Both types guarantee the safest possible parameters of generated fumes and controlled spread of flames. In case of coverings with lower classes or floor coverings without fire tests the basic safety of people in the building in case of fire will not be secured and so it will be impossible to obtain a technical acceptance certificate. For that reason, at the very beginning of selection process, it is essential to check required attests and certificates of floor coverings and if they comply with fire regulations.

Fleece grammage

This is the most widely considered feature characteristic of carpet flooring. The minimal grammage for floor coverings in public environments is about 450 g/m2 -500 g/m², however we recommend higher grammage. A good standard is 700-800 g/m². In case of hotel coverings, depending on place of application (halls, corridors or rooms), are used coverings featuring grammage from 800 to 1300 g/m². Note that fleece grammage (most essential) is not the same as total grammage.

Density

Parameter often omitted, however strictly related to fleece grammage. Only fibres of proper density will be resistant to motion of people, furniture etc. High grammage with low density means that such floor covering has fragile fleece unsuitable for intense exploitation. Densities for floor coverings for public environments start at ca 150,000 of so-called knots per 1 square metre and up to more than 200,000. An exception is velour carpet flooring, which can achieve up to 300,000 knots.

Other features of floor coverings

Most of floor coverings for pubic environments are antistatic, minimizing the risk of electrostatic charges, which promote e.g. dust formation. It is important for your floor covering to be resistant to movement of castered office furniture. In many cases also sound attenuation parameter is important, which in case of carpet floorings usually exceeds 20 dB. Some of the coverings have additional anti-dirt protection, often based on Teflon. Some are fitted for staircases. All those features distinguish floor coverings for public environments from cheap products intended for application in domestic environments and usually of low durability.

Taking into consideration the parameters discussed above, floor coverings are divided into conventional functional classes indicating the area of application – classes from 31 to 34 (according to PN EN 685 standard in force).

Floor coverings intended for intensive exploitation should be of class 32 at least.

Functional advantages of carpet tiles:

Carpet floorings available in tiles beginning from the purchase, through transport, installation up to exploitation, have an advantage over the traditional carpet floorings in rolls. Carpet tiles are packed in 4-5 m² packages, allowing purchasing even small amounts of material in different colours. Equivalent purchase of carpet flooring in rolls would be encumbered with significant process waste, higher transport costs of a few rolls, higher costs of so-called tagging associated with trimming rolls. Transport and delivery costs for rolls – usually 4 or 5 m long - considering consequential weight of such a roll, are always higher compared to tiles packed in cardboard boxes on Euro Palettes. Handling carpet tiles on construction site, often to higher floors, is also easier. Installation of tiles, although requires precision, enables quick and easy dismantling in case of renovation or replacement of carpet flooring. Foundation stays intact. All considered, the final cost of floor covering in case of material in rolls, despite lower price per unit, might be higher than in case of tiles.