Carpet Cleaning Issues - Carpet construction, upholstery cleaning, stain removal, equipment, events, etc.
Carpet Border Damage Posted by woodman (woodman), 16 September 2003
Following on from the problem that a fellow carpet cleaner had with pile reversal I thought some of you might like to another of another incident I have come across for which we must all be aware.
This call I have recieved from another carpet cleaning out fit relates to a carpet they have cleaned which has a border, no doubt you have all come across these high quality (usualy) woven backed with an equaly if not higher spec border.
This one is a Brintons Wilton.
When the cleaner called to carry out the work the house holder pointed out the border and his concerns that his high powered truck mount might loosen the border,he was assured by the cleaner that it would be ok,, ah those famous last words.
After cleaning had been completed and he had left, the border came adrift from the main body of the carpet as feared,cheque was duly stopped calls came and went thick and fast panic set in.
This carpet ran the entire ground floor area all open plan and was part of a larger full house installation estimated replacement cost £6750 (for full replacement)
The cleaners asked a local fitter to see if he could repair the border he went had a look and refused the job on the grounds that lines of tufts had come adrift and he couldn't get a perfect seam, fair enough.
This is where yours truly gets involved bearing in mind I am the third person to visit after the clean the housholder is not to pleased but is still very understanding of the situation the cleaners are in.
(full marks to the carpet cleaners here in their handling of the complaint,this is no fly by night operators and they want it resolved one way or another)
I remove several rows of tufts from other inconspicuous areas and sew them in and reseam the damaged areas it's not perfect but a major improvement but alas the housholder will not accept the finished article and wants replacement.
Conclusion: Because of over confidence,not surveying the border despite being asked to by the housholder ,using his cleaner on too high power setting when cleaning the border seams and generally being a smart arse he has cost his company or rather the insurance company £7000 and probably his job or at the very least retraining is in order,the carpet only warranted a light bonnet cleaning to start with as soiling was very light a proper survey would have high lighted this.
Allways ,allways check the borders for broken seams and to see how infact it has been joined some companies will bodge the join using tape and adhesive (i kid you not Ive seen it done) slightest bit of moisture and away it comes guess who gets the blame. Clean very lightly over these areas because of where they are (border) they will be lightly soiled any way.
Happy, safe Cleaning.Posted by Derek (Derek), 16 September 2003
Interesting story, but this sort of thing is all to common.
Were the joins heat seamed? Years ago these would have been sewn together
There is a set of fitters in my neck of the woods who fit carpets on a regular basis with nothing but a light coat of a spray adhesive. Hey ho!
DerekPosted by woodman (woodman), 16 September 2003
Hi Derek,
Didn't realise you were famous 
Yes the seams were heat seamed just about enough to keep the border in place.
years ago the border would have stitched and carpet would have been on felt so the stitch bedded in, real crafts men & women then.
One old lady I used to come across used to carry out all the stitching and mending on site for a major manufacturer of wool carpets.Posted by Derek (Derek), 16 September 2003
Hi
The word really should be 'infamous' but you were too polite to say that 
Regards
DerekPosted by Nigel_W (Nigel_W), 17 September 2003
Speaking of quality workmanship - I often come across the old style woven carpets laid in narrow strips that are stitched together at the seams. These carpets are ocan be 20 to 30 years old and still look great. They don't make them and fit them like they used to do!
I have noticed that some designers in London are specifying this style carpet in new installations. Whats the betting that the quality of the carpet and the seam work won't be as good 
NigelPosted by woodman (woodman), 17 September 2003
Unbelievable 
I know but another one today,
This time a Stoddards Templeton fitted using the durafit system 10 method,
The cleaner has shrunk the carpet away from border seams, the adhesive has held onto the tufts splitting the seam to wide to repair replacement cost £5950 + vat.
I don't like the durafit way of fitting, for us cleaners it can cause many problems.Posted by Derek (Derek), 17 September 2003
Hi Woodman
This is not the first time I have heard of carpets shrinking big time when the Durafit / System 10 method is used.
For those not familiar with this style of fitting, there are NO gripper rods used, ..the underlay is layed to the edges of the room and the carpet layed on top of the underlay... the ones I have seen have had the carpet 'secured' by the use of a spraymount glue around the edges.
Regards
Derek Posted by Mr._One_Step (Mr._One_Step), 17 September 2003
Whilst attending a carpet-fitting course at F. Ball and Co. Ltd several years ago I had the opportunity to see the instruction sheet for Durafit system 10 and it clearly stated that carpets fitted with this system should not be cleaned with truckmounted cleaning systems.
I have also seen major damage to system 10 carpets installed in a famous hotel and auction house in the UK. Both had to be repaired at the expense of the cleaning companies, one a TM operator and the other used portables.
The repairs although acceptable to the hotel and auction house stood out like a sore thumb.
It pays to be trained and to thoroughly test before you dive in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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