Installation Guidelines for Tufted Wools
The importance of understanding the construction of the product is as important as the installation itself. Understanding how to manipulate the product when needed to have it conform to its surroundings is essential.
Acclimation is a very important step in achieving this goal. Carpet should be cut and laid in the area it is to be installed, for a minimum of 24 to 48 hours before installation. Always add 3 inches to each cut, and when patterns are involved 3 inches plus a full pattern should be added.
Stretch-in Installation
1. Tufted wools install differently then synthetic carpets, from pad, to the amount of stretch to be given to the product. The amount of stretch on tufted wools is 1% in the width and 1 ½% in the length depending on the room size. Qualified installers know the amount of stretch by the pressure they put on the handle of the power stretcher ~ the power stretcher is mandatory ! When stretching across a seam there should be less stretch than if there was no seam, to lessen the amount of seam peaking. Rooms 29’ and over, it is required that you use architectural tack strip, or double up standard tack strip. Pins should never show through the carpet. To avoid pins showing through, you can cut the selvage off the side of the carpet and lay it across the tack strip to lower the pins.
1.2 All seams must be sealed with latex seam sealer to encapsulate both the primary and secondary backing. Care must be taken as to not get latex on the face yarn. Latex on the face yarn will draw dirt to the seam and cause a dark line to appear throughout the seam. Important: The sealing of seams will help eliminate delamination and help with the tuft bind.
1.3 Pad: The proper pad for tufted wools with jute backing is most important, Petroleum based pad should never be used. This type of pad will cause wrinkles, bubbles, delamination, and seam separation over time. The pad recommended for this carpet is wool pad, 32 oz. felt pad or Healthier Choice pad (frothed polyurethane foam “Greenguard”).
1.4 Seam peaking: To repair a peaking seam you must empty the room of all contents; pull the carpet up back to the seam area, to where you can see the seam tape. Remove excess paper from the tape, use a light weight sand paper and rough up the tape. Next cut out the pad approximately 1 ft. on each side of the seam, pull the pad up and then glue it back down. Next glue the carpet to that area of the pad. Reinstall the carpet and add weight to the seam area, and allow the pressure to stay for 2 – 3 hours, this will allow the seam to lay flat. ( to eliminate call backs you can use this procedure when installing any low profile carpet). The pad should be a pad used for double stick installation, or have a scrim and plastic, so the glue does not soak into the pad. Anything less than high solids ( 68%) glue would have too much moisture and cause the jute to shrink.
1.5 Note: Cotton head should never be used on loop pile wool carpeting. Reason: When using a cotton head the yarn will swell, leaving the carpet unrepairable. If you trim the carpet, it will leave dark areas.
Direct glue and double stick installation
2. Direct glue installation with jute backing should be glued with a high solids adhesive, using a 1/8”x1/8”x1/8” U notch trowel. The carpet should be rolled both ways after installation with a 75 lb. roller. CRI standards should be followed for floor prep. Atmospheric conditions should also be considered in the amount of time needed for the glue to set up. The recommended pad to be used for double stick installation is a 21lb. rubber slab pad or Healthier Choice pad – felt pads or wool pads are NOT recommended for this type of installation. It is also recommended that the type of carpet for this installation should have a jute backing or a 10 pic action back or woven carpet. Proper notch trowel is also very important – for pad to the floor, a 1/16”x1/16”x1/16” square notch trowel should be used with pressure sensitive glue. For the carpet to the pad, smooth back carpet use a 1/8”x1/16”x1/8” U notch trowel. For rough back carpet use a 1/8”x3/16”x1/8” U notch trowel with a high solids glue ( approx. 68% solids). Preferably 65-68% solids .Preferably Apac 440 or any premium high solids glue. The carpet should be rolled both ways after installation with a 35 to 50 lb. roller.
Note: Pressure sensitive glue should always be used on double stick installation, pad to floor. If multi-purpose glue is used this could cut the life span of the installation in half. Also if pressure sensitive glue is not given the time to off gas, it will do it on its own once the job is completed. The proper way to know when the time is right to put the pad into the glue, is when the glue is tacky to the touch, but does not transfer to your finger. Do not use fans directly on the glue to speed up drying time, as it will prematurely set the glue. Fans can be used facing the ceiling to circulate the air, but not directly on the floor.
On a double glue installation, it is recommended that you use a seaming iron, rather than not. If you are using the Kool Glide iron, make sure you cut the flange off of each side of the tape before using it.
For both direct glue and double stick installation the following restrictions apply, there should be no:
- foot traffic for 24 hours
- wheel carts for 72 hours
- vacuuming for 72 hours
- cleaning with water for 30 days
3. It is important to have good ventilation. Ventilation should begin 48 hours prior to installation, during installation and 72 hours after installation.
Standards for Printed Carpet ( Sprayed on print)
Seam Prep for printed pattern loop pile carpet
In most cases printed patterns do not alien with the loop pile carpet, making it impossible for the installer to follow a row for a seam, and keep the pattern on. Solution: Do not row cut from the top, but from the back of the carpet If you cannot run a row next to the pattern, you must use your razor blade knife to make one inch cuts next to the pattern, every 3 feet. Then fold the carpet over and use your straight edge to line up against the cuts you made ( next to your pattern). With your straight edge cut through the backing but NOT the face yarn. At this point the face yarn should be connecting the backings together. Next, use your scissors and cut the yarn at the base of the side you are going to discard. On your seam side use latex and run a bead at the base of the yarn carefully folding the yarn over into the latex to keep the integrity of the loop that has been cut. Use this same procedure on the second piece that you will be seaming onto. This procedure will keep the loops and the pattern intact. This is a slow and tedious process, but the result are well worth it.
** If you have any questions, please call NFIC at 770 720-4537 **