Church Carpeting

[doofclenas]

I was referred by a friend to ask the fine people here my flooring question...

Our church has been worshiping in a converted Fire Hall for the past year. It's a fairly simple building...from the main entrance, you walk into a tiled hallway, maybe 10 ft long, then into the sanctuary. There are two other rooms off the hallway (nursery and pastors office). When we remodeled the building, we didn't spend a whole lot on the flooring in the sanctuary (they had an inexpensive carpet installed). Unfortunately, the carpet is showing it's wear (runs, stains, ect.). Since we're located in northern Michigan, snow plays a big factor, and where there is snow there is usually ice...with ice, comes salt, which inevitably get tracked into the sanctuary.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a floor covering (The church counsel and pastor still want carpet, for insulation factors, and sound deadening). I was thinking about carpet squares...I've seen them in airports and office buildings. The nice thing about them, is that if the area by the door gets nasty and stained, we could just replace those squares. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Harry Myers]

You made a great suggestion. Carpet tiles are used for that very reason.

[doofclenas]

Any particular brand...

[Jeff Short]

While squares are a good product, the price often is prohibitive. They tend to be much more expensive than a good commercial broadloom product. Additionally, you can do some bordering, etc.... with broadloom carpet in the problem area that will allow you to change that area only at a later date without having to change all of the carpet. Since churches usually have a limited budget to work with, this would be a much less expensive alternative to the squares. Go to your local carpet store (NOT a big box store) & have them check & see if they can get some specials from any of their suppliers. We are working on a large church job (500+ sq. yds.) right now that we were able to track down a very high end product for at a fraction of the regular price. A competent salesperson will have the resources to get you a good product at a reasonable price.

[Peter Kodner]

Harry, with all due respect, carpet tiles were initially made for a decidedly different purpose, namely, a regular program of tile shifting to equalize wear. Numerous studies conducted in the mid to late 70s concluded 20% of interior spaces received 80% of the traffic. the theory was quarterly, semi-annual or annual shifting of traffic lanes to other areas would quadruple life cycles. In reality. no one would ever dedicate the manpower resources to perform this.

Shortly after, access flooring system became very prevalent in commercial due to the growth of PCs, carpet tiles found a great new market. Originally only in 18", raised floor systems were a pain with 20-24 inch panel size. 24" tiles came along fairly quickly to only one tile per one panel installs.

Flat wire came along and helped extend it use. The last development which has virtually assured it will continued to be use if the jacking systems out that allow broadloom or tile installations to be replaced without disassembling demountable office partitions.taking down. Far too often, the cost to knock down and re-erect modular furniture ran significantly more than the carpet project. I haven't priced a knock down in a while, but without electrical and data wiring costs, they were over $100.00 per workstation.

Today, 3' seem to be the rage and virtually every airport I have been in over the last five years are using them.

Whereas tiles will certainly provide a benefit for the scenario doofcleaans has presented, I think Jeff is right on in his cost versus value comment. Mills love to sell tiles as their manufacturing are minimally higher than broadloom but the selling prices are significantly higher. Tiles represent the highest margins in the manufacture of carpet.

Some design work with insets may prove far more effective for this end use. Do not forget to specify a sufficient of track off mats as well. They must be changed out regularly and are one of the most important factors in extend the servicable life of carpet.

[cproader]

Peter Kodner said Some design work with insets may prove far more effective for this end use. Do not forget to specify a sufficient of track off mats as well. They must be changed out regularly and are one of the most important factors in extend the servicable life of carpet.

Uhhh...........Amen

[Peter Kodner]

A few further thoughts:

Do you have enclosed vestibules in the church? May be an ideal area to install either a Pedigrid® system (this is a recessed system that allows melted snow and water to drop below the surface and evaporate without over saturating the face. they also have a surface system called Pedimat®) or use a track off carpet tile system. Virtually all the carpet mills make these products.

If you don't have enclosed vestibules, you may be able to design in a section of track off tiles. Buy sufficient attic stock so you can swap out and clean them. Depending on weather, this may be a weekly occurrence. Don't omit some exterior matting as well. These should function as scrapers to remove as much snow as possible before entering the building. I don't recall the exact sizes, but you want at least four to five footsteps to be on matting before hitting the carpet in good weather and double taht6 for inclement weather.

Here's a link to the manufacturer: Entrance Matting Entry Mats Commercial Industrial Door Mats
Not the cheapest, but they last forever and work wonderfully.

Buy commercial vacuums (two motor units are far superior to single motor units), use them with a passion (five to six passes over every area) and keep the unit maintained well (change bags at 1/2-2/3 full, check belts for tightness/cracking, and any brush/beater bar rollers for burrs or brush wear). High traffic areas (entries and halls, general offices) should be vacuumed daily; moderate traffic areas 2-3 week; private office conference room, etc, once per week.

There are several "interim" cleaning processes you may want to explore (Host, Whittaker, Capture, dry foam) but I am an advocate of hot water extraction on a regular basis. Again, a cleaning pro may be your best friend and set up a regular preventative program. Certain areas should be HWE cleaned more frequently (about the same ratio as your vacuuming schedule).

I have read studies by just about everyone involved in the carpet industry that the overwhelming amount of carpet replacement is due to maintenance issues, not wear. Interview several cleaners, set a budget for the cost and follow it. I think you will be very ple4asantly surprised at how long a commercial installation can keep up it's appearance if this is addressed before the product is even installed