Seams like trouble

Planning and execution prevent seam complaints

BY CHRISTOPHER CAPOBIANCO

Seams in floor coverings — whether we’re talking about carpet or resilient — cause more concern for customers and more potential complaints for installers than any other aspect of a floor covering installation. In my career in sales, I can’t count how many seam questions I have had to field about seams during the selection process for floor coverings. Where will they be? Will they show? Will they last? Whether it’s a homeowner, an interior designer, architect or property manager, it is a common concern.

As an inspector, I’ve spent a lot of time spent diagnosing seam failures – resilient seams that are heat welded or sealed with a liquid seam sealer and carpet seams that are either very visible when new or become visible with age when they “unravel.”

 

Salespeople often fall into the trap of promising “invisible” seams, which puts a lot of pressure on the installer, often putting him in the position to deliver on promises that can’t be kept. Regardless of whether it’s carpet or resilient flooring, getting seams right and overcoming potential objections from the owner is a team effort. Communication between the salespeople, the estimator and the installer is key. If there is a designer or architect involved he or she can often be a part if the process as well. Seam placement is the first step. Ideally, seams should be placed in inconspicuous areas, avoiding cross seams, which tend to be more noticeable than length seams. This is where the teamwork comes in because more material may be needed in order to accomplish this. Often, avoiding cross seams or “fills” results in a time savings and a less noticeable seam. The estimator should never automatically assume that the customer will want to save money by having more cross seams and using less material. Take a little time to explain the difference and the advantages to them and in most cases they will pay a little more to have a better looking installation.

The main thing that causes seam related complaints after the fact is failure to seal the edges correctly or at all – again relating to carpet and to sheet resilient. I’ve heard so many excuses from carpet installers and from dealers, the most common of which is that “only glue down level loop carpet requires a seam sealer.” That is completely incorrect.

The industry standard for carpet installation is CRI 105 – Standard for Installation of Residential Carpet, published by the Carpet and Rug Institute. The standard for commercial use is CR 104. This standard states, “All seams must be sealed unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer. Regardless of installation method, most carpet requires an edge protective material be introduced between the edges to be joined. This material can be a liquid or thermoplastic and can be applied using various procedures and techniques.” That means that every seam of every carpet needs to be sealed.

 

For resilient floors in residential and light commercial use, chemically welded seams (also known as cold-weld or seam-sealer) use a clear liquid and a special applicator to seal the seam. This method tends to be less noticeable than a heat welded seam, so it’s often preferred from an aesthetic point of view. However, heat welding is often the preferred method from a durability point of view. If an owner or design professional wants to use a chemical weld in high traffic when heat welding is an option, it pays to have a conversation about the advantage of heat welding, maybe even involving the flooring manufacturer to give an opinion. If it’s decided to do a chemical weld, the procedure needs to be done slowly and carefully so there are no skips in the liquid that could cause gapping in the future.

In high-traffic commercial sheet resilient floors, many seams are heat-welded to provide a more sanitary installation or meet a building code of some kind. I often hear from installers who have never heat welded and ask how to. I tell them that if they’ve never done it before, they should work with someone who knows how or attend a class or school where heat welding is taught. This is not a technique that lends itself to “on the job” practice.

The process involves grooving or “routing’ a groove into the flooring right at the seam. Some tile products are routed at the factory, but in most cases routing is done on the job. From there, the two pieces are fused together by melting a weld thread (also known as weld rod) into the gap of a routed seam using a hot air gun designed specifically for heat welding. The heat welding gun has a range of temperature settings and where to set the temperature will vary depending on factors such as the temperature of the substrate and how fast the installer moves. It is important, even for experienced installers, to practice on some scrap material before welding the seams. Once the rod cools, a two-step procedure trims the rod flush with the surface of the flooring so the floor is ready to use. After trimming, a glazing process using hot air is often used to put a little gloss on the weld and darken the color. This can help the seam blend in better.

Heat-welded seams are recommended for health care installations and other high-traffic areas, where floors are subjected to heavy rolling loads or for floors that are frequently washed or wet. Decorative appearances may also be achieved using contrasting weld thread. Generally, routing and heat welding of seams is performed the day after flooring is installed to allow adhesive to dry, although in some cases it can be done the same day. Check with the flooring manufacturer to be sure. Welding threads come in a variety of different sizes, so the size of the rod, the groover and the tip on the welding gun have to be compatible. If not, the result can be a very visible seam or a weld that does not hold.

Health care continues to be the number one area for heat welded seams, and is a very busy market segment today. As such, installers who can heat weld are in demand so I recommend mastering this technique.

Careful attention to details can help to overcome the trepidation many building owners have when considering sheet goods such as carpet or sheet resilient flooring. Planning the location of seams before the material is ordered and sealing the seams by the proper method are the keys to making sure a seam does not become a complaint.

 

Christopher Capobianco has been in the floor covering industry since the 1970s in various roles including retail and commercial sales, technical support, consulting, journalism, education and volunteer work. He currently is part of the sales team for Spartan Surfaces in New York City. You can reach him via [email protected].