Seam sealer added later

Again this week I saw two situations of installers just not getting it when it comes to seam/edge sealing.

First one was from an installer who was repairing a seam that had a depression along it that was likely caused by too hot of a seaming iron. The guys who had tried to fix the seam the first time had dismantled the seam, redid the seam and then left a tractor with the customer and asked her to run the tractor over the seam all weekend. Needless to say the customer was not impressed. The last installer went in there and said he could not match up the pattern. It was a high /low loop and the pattern was just less than an inch long. The installer said he could not powerstretch the carpet a half inch to help line up the patterns. I found this quite unbelieveable, especially when there were no elongated holes in the secondary backing that always exist when the carpet is adequately stretched. The same installer told me the seam he constructed was excellent and that he sealed the seams from the bottom with a glue gun!

Second one is from a delamination claim on a commercial install. There was more sealer on the concrete than on the seam. The old Standard said you could butter one cut edge and then butt the other edge into it. The new Standard states that you must seal both cut edges and then add a third bead of sealer to bind the two cut edges together. When I mentioned this to the retailer he was shocked that the new standard says that and that no manufacturer had told them of the new Standard For Carpet Installation.

I guess he has a point, who else would tell the retailers and installers that there is a new standard but the manufacturers? However is it the manufacturers responsibility to tell everyone of the new Standard? Of course it isn’t! I guess this is the tip of the iceberg for us inspectors over the next couple of years.

Gloves Off Carpet Care and Disinfectant

We just got a new order of Concrobium Carpet Shampoo and lo and behold–they have changed the name to Gloves Off Carpet Care. Gloves Off has just recently released their DIN registered botanical disinfectant/cleaner.

It is nice to have new additions to the family of eco friendly cleaners that actually work! In particular its nice to now have a cleaner/disinfectant in one that is certified green.

The eco-revolution is growing quickly. Fresh and Clean will always be in the forefront of green carpet cleaning.

Our prespray TLC now has the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval, our rinse agent/cleaner Chemspec DFC105 also has the same certification. This means that these ultra safe products can be used on a carpet and not void the carpet’s warranty. If your carpet cleaner does not use products with this Seal of Approval there is a chance that he is voiding your carpet’s warranty. Check with your carpet manufacturer.

Don’t be fooled by other people’s claims of being green—insist on seeing third party verification of their claims.

The certifications you should be looking for are the EPA’s Design for the Environment, Ecologo, Terrachoice and Envirodesic.

We at Fresh and Clean take great pride in using cleaning solutions that have both the CRI Seal of Approval and a Green certification.

Canadian Green Sustainability Program

by lee -
Well its finally here a green cleaning program made for canadians by Canadians. The Canadian Sanitation Supply Association (CSSA) has started a program that will set the standard for Green Cleaning in facility management. Buildings will be able to receive recognition for their green cleaning and so will building service contractors.

The initial training of ESPs starts this month and will continue into next month. An ESP is an Expert Sustainability Professional. Our company Fresh and Clean plans on having our staff trained by an ESP who will likely be the owner of Fresh and Clean and the author of this blog Mr. Lee Senter.

Once our technicians are trained by an ESP they will have to take a test and will then become Certified Green Sustainibility Contractors.

We’ll keep you updated on this program as it grows.

Shading on a woven face on face

I was commissioned to look at a woven face on face or tops and bottoms as they are referred to.I don’t want any clues on the mill but it is American made and the face fiber is polypropylene. The commissioning party is asking me to inspect a high line. They also stated that the shading problem has been explained away.

I arrive at the home and the only thing the customer wants to talk about is the shading. The customer stated that there were many bands across the width of the carpet when the carpet was originally rolled out in the home. These were likely pressure bands and are actually very common, they are usually repairable on wool and nylon but pretty tough to fix on olefin. Anyways the majority of the bands were no longer discernible. There were variations in the carpet pile showing some areas as dark and some areas are light. This is a cut pile carpet that is NOT made from staple yarns–YOU WILL GET SOME SHADING! I try and show this to the customer by rubbing the pile with my feet and hands. They were not listening. Instead I have the lady customer (in her 60’s) telling me numerous times that the carpet looks like “shit” and that the sample of the carpet at the retailer is false advertising.

I am of course rattled by their tirades. I am shaking and nervous. I am definitely not in any condition to shear the high line in front of the customer when I know the area will likely show some new shading.

For some reasons the customers think that being rude with me was going to help their case?!? Anyways I guess the moral of the story is that cut pile BCF yarns will usually not be trackless and will show some kind of shading .

Carpet inspections I see that boggle my mind

I see a lot of carpets. I continue to learn each time I am out there. This one defies logic. I went out to see a carpet that was down in two main panels of a bedroom that had just been renovated. The end user had chosen a white wool wilton weave with a viscose blend. It was 75% wool 25% viscose. The renovation contractor decided to install half the carpet in the bedroom while he continued to demolish the bathroom. He then installed the other panel of carpet and seamed them together. Well needless to say there was a colour difference between the two panels. The carpet that was laid down while construction continued was grayer in colour. The contractor called in a company he uses to clean the carpet. They hot water extracted the carpet twice, once by portable and another time by truckmounted unit. They had no success. I was then called in to inspect. I ended up calling the carpet cleaning company who did the cleaning and quizzed them on how they cleaned the carpet. They told me they presprayed with an enzyme and extracted. I investigated further and found out that this was indeed dry clean only. My conclusion on my report blamed the Contractor and end user for putting the carpet down during construction. I also pointed some blame at the carpet cleaning contractor for improper cleaning. The carpet cleaning company freaked. They stated that they can clean any carpet by hot water extraction. I pointed out it was dry clean only and likely because there was viscose in the pile which shrinks severely. They said they did not know that. When I pointed out that their was not enough emphasis on dry particulate removal by extra careful vacuuming they said that they vacuumed regularly. I pointed out that they used an enzyme on wool they said it was good for wool(?!?).

It was a double header, a contractor who puts an extremely expensive ($25K) bedrooom carpet down and then works in the area adjacent and a carpet cleaner who thinks he can extract any carpet. Even a woven carpet with funny looking yarns in it.