Flooring Resources Blog

More than 500 area architects, facility managers, and other construction officials from Illinois recently spent two days at the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters’ Training Center for a regional industry education and networking event. The Chicago Regional Council used this event as an excellent opportunity to reinforce the importance of developing relationships with industry leaders, creating a network of business contacts and making connections through which the union, its members and its signatory contractors can all prosper.



Flooring Resources is proud to have participated in this event as part of the Professional Flooring Installers Association (PFIA). The PFIA operated an informative booth about best practices in floor covering as well as carpet and floor maintenance. The PFIA also hosted a cocktail reception after the event.

We found the classes to be informative, spanning a number of topics such as green building materials and green practices, LEED Certification, and economic assessments. The event was the first of its kind for the Training Center and ran from October 14-15, 2009. We hope to attend next year with and even bigger success!

Yesterday we posted on the topic of green carpet recycling practices. Here's an interesting video about carpet recycling. We have sent MANY shipments of recycled carpet to Kruse Carpet Recycling over the years. This is a video explaining what happens to your carpet after it goes to a sorting facility.



Visit CARE's website to see if there is a green carpet recycling facility in your area. For instruction on how to prepare carpet for recycling pickup, please visit Flooring Resource's green carpet recycling information page here.

In this economic environment, everyone is looking for ways to save a few dollars. However, the initial value of installing carpet yourself may have hidden costs.

Carpet tiles are being marketed as easy to install compared to a stretch-in carpet floor. They physical size of carpet tiles makes them easier to handle. Carpet tiles or floor tiles can be used to create dynamic and interesting patterns and are rapidly gaining popularity in the marketplace.

Only a qualified and experienced carpet tile dealer knows the correct carpet installation methods. Carpet dealers work extensively with manufacturer mills and know their warranties inside and out. Its a carpet dealers business to install carpet right the first time. A good carpet dealer has a well trained crew of installers and an in house staff to make sure warranty requirements are being followed. They are also equipped with all the expensive tools needed to install carpet, perform concrete moisture tests, and prepare the subfloor for a smooth installation.

In a commercial environment, one of the most costly mistakes can be losing your carpet or laminate flooring's warranty. Carpet and floor tile warranties can be voided for many reasons: incorrect subfloor preparation, moisture in the concrete, use of the wrong adhesive, or incorrect installation by untrained professionals, just to name a few.

If you run into a problem with your DIY carpet tiles, you may have no recourse for a repair. The cost of repairing or replacing the entire carpet or floor tiles will come out of your pocket. Why risk it? Carpet is one of the most expensive items in your design budget. The cost of repairing a poor install and carpet replacement is often more expensive than paying for a proper installation in the first place.

For more information about carpet tile installation by professional, INSTALL Certified Technicians, please visit our website. We've seen it all; from bubbles in floor tiles, laminate over wet floors, to curling carpet tiles and visible carpet seams. We know from experience, fixing the mess is a lot more expensive (for both the dealer and customer) than preparing for a correct installation of carpet tiles from the beginning.

Don't be romanced by the cheap upfront costs of do it yourself carpet tile installation. Make a sound financial decision to protect your flooring investment and warranty!

Have you ever wondered how to recycle carpet? Did you know 5 billion pounds* of carpet go into the landfill each year? That number is frightening because landfills are filling up and closing their doors to carpet shipments each year.

The good news is, there are choices for recycling carpet. When old carpet is removed from a building, consider the green carpet options. One of the best options is never having the carpet enter the waste stream at all. If the old carpet is still in good condition, consider donating it to a local non-profit organization. The carpet can usually be cleaned and re-used. Flooring Resources makes routine donations of gently used and cleaned carpet to Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley ReStore.

If the carpet is unable to be donated, it can be sent to a carpet sorting or carpet recycling facility. Recycled carpet has many uses, “old carpet is going into composite lumber (both decking and sheets), tile backer board, roofing shingles, railroad ties, automotive parts, carpet cushion, stepping stones, etc.”* Old carpet can also be recycled directly into new carpet.

Several carpet mills and manufacturers have green carpet initiatives. Mohawk’s GreenWorks, Interface, Invista, Mannington Commerical, Milliken, Shaw Industries and Tandus all have carpet recycling programs.

When considering how to recycle old carpet, contact your carpet dealer, specifier or manufacturing mill that sold you the carpet and ask them to help you locate a green carpet recycling facility. Recycling carpet is not free; there are transportation and labor costs involved in getting the recycled carpet to its final destination. However, dealers and mills can often cover the cost of recycling if you are planning to replace the carpet with one of their own products.

Flooring Resources offers green carpet recycling and reclamation services, often free of charge to job sites. The goal is simply to divert waste from landfills. Flooring Resources Corporation is committed to the recycling effort, promoting green business practices and preservation of the environment. . We remain first in pounds recycled by our peers and strive to be the leader in green carpet recycling. Any mill, any carpet, any job - No Project Obligation. Contact us for more details.

Since January 1, 2009 Flooring Resources has diverted 657,831 pounds of carpet and we’re picking up truckloads every day!

Resources:

*CARE (Carpet America Recovery Effort) For more information, and carpet recycling facts visit carpetrecovery.org.