December 9, 2022
It’s easy to be floored by the range of carpeting on offer. Styles, materials, colours all compete for your attention and you can feel a little overwhelmed. But then, just when you think you can’t have any more choices put in front of you, someone mentions carpet tiles.
Carpet what now? Let’s see what carpet tiles bring to the table. Well, the floor. Once you see how easily carpet tiles can transform your space, you’ll be delighted they made their way into your life.
Sometimes called modular carpets or carpet squares, carpet tiles are relatively small – most often 500mm x 500mm – sections of carpet, that are designed to be laid in a tessellating pattern to give even and easy-to-install floor coverage.
They’re usually square in shape, but can be more plank-like, hexagonal, or any shape that readily tessellates. Thickness of carpet tiles is usually around 6-7mm.
They can be laid on concrete or floorboards (but you’ll need some hardboard to cover the latter surface).
There are a multitude of advantages with carpet tiles. Here are the most outstanding.
Being easy to carry and set in place, carpet tiles are very popular with DIYers. No stretching of the carpet with a knee-kicker is needed, none of those edging boards with the sharp nails, no unsettling scissor action where you might ruin the whole roll. In short, all the tricky stuff that you generally get a pro to do is gloriously absent from tile installation. Once you’ve measured your floor, you’re well on your way.
Does the floor need to be level for carpet tiles? In short, yes. You’ll get a better fit and it will help with water resistance.
While regular carpet often needs additional underlay to ensure a more cushioned tread and a longer life, tiles come with backing already attached, usually in the form of hardback, closed cell or open cell. So, this makes for a shorter installation time.
One time-saving tip is that you don’t need to empty the room beforehand. You can lay tiles with furniture in place, moving the pieces round as you go. Note – while this is feasible and can cut a lot of hassle out of your day, you’re likely to get a better result if you do move everything out in the first place.
Final installation point – if you’re dealing with a big room, you may find that a traditional carpet roll won’t be wide enough to cover the floorspace. Result? An unsightly seam.
You can have a uniform look if that’s your bag. Sometimes a space needs a consistent floor tone to offset what’s happening elsewhere in the room.
However, other times, you want something eye-catching and a little bit out there. By mixing different styles, sizes, colours and shapes of tile, you can end up with a look that suits the room to a tee and is totally unique to you. You can even add one of a kind patterns to existing tiles using a digital dye infusion process.
In short, using tiles grants you the opportunity to be the designer of your own floor. You can express yourself in carpet styles that are simply not possible with conventional carpeting.
Carpet tiles are designed to stand up to a lot of traffic. Often used in offices or schools, they shrug off shoes and happily handle heels. They tend to feature durable loops and short pile, which helps them stand up to all manner of booted bother. How long do carpet tiles last? Usually between 10 and 20 years.
Moreover, they often have flecks built into the design so that any little signs of wear are camouflaged, which means that tiles keep their youthful good looks for as long as possible.
Carpet tiles are also more moisture resistant than conventional carpeting, so spillages tend not to be such a big deal. This is helped by the advanced stain protection most tiles enjoy. It’s a good idea to install a moisture barrier under carpet tiles however, to protect the subfloor.
One of the biggest advantages of carpet tiles is that they are supremely practical. Not only are they highly durable, should there be damage to one or a few of them, you can just swap out the affected tiles and replace with new ones. Hey presto! Damaged areas gone and floor looking once more like new. (Always a good idea to have a few spare tiles in storage ready for this eventuality.)
Compare this with the wholesale replacement conventional carpeting necessitates and you can see just how suitable to busy household use carpet tiles really are.
When it comes to cleaning carpet tiles, a simple vacuum round will usually work wonders. If there are any obstinate stains, it’s possible to remove the discoloured tiles for a shampooing session, then to reinstall when clean.
Compared with hard-flooring solutions, carpet tiles represent a cost-saving option. While they may be slightly more expensive than most traditional carpets, tiles deliver a huge saving if the buyer conducts the installation themselves.
With conventional carpet rolls, a significant amount of waste is generated by having to cut the carpet to fit the floorspace. Not so with tiles. In fact, tiles can be a real eco-plus if you seek out non-pvc backing. Recycled materials are available that give just as good results.
There aren’t many. Just two, in fact.
Tiles tend to feature short piles, so if you want a longer pile, you may need to go with a roll.
Very heavy traffic may result in worn seams, but, as mentioned above, you can just replace the offending tiles.
So, there are a wealth of positives that tiles can bring to a flooring scenario.
If you need further information about what tiles can do for you, get in touch with a specialist like Jupps. They’ll give you all the advice you need and show you some great examples of carpeting tiles that will give you instant inspiration.
See the experts and take out all the tile and error. You’ll be a short step away from some seriously awesome flooring.
