Most floor covering comes with instructions for installation. At the very least, a mechanic should be able to call the mill to get assistance when necessary. There are also general guidelines in CRI-104 and CRI-105 for floor coverings.

IMPORTANCE OF HAVING INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
In a recent situation, a dealer purchased some very special and expensive carpet which came with no installation instructions. The installer, having never worked with this product before, called its manufacturer. He asked if he should sew the seams and was told, he says-and the dealer corroborates this-he could install the carpet the way he normally would.

Normal would be making seams with an iron and seaming tape. Since this was not a normal carpet and was not constructed the way a normal carpet is, and the backing was far from being what a normal carpet has, “normal” does not apply to installing this product.

The mechanic and dealer called back after some experimentation and again asked whether they should sew the seams. Again, the mill told them, “no,” go ahead and do what they “normally” would do.

Well, normal in this case wound up being a combination of errors. Since the carpet mill has a responsibility to inform the installation community of special techniques, procedures, tools, and components which should be employed when using its product, it assumes liability when the installation fails.

This is further compounded in this case by a statement supposedly documented from an employee of this manufacturer, this carpet cannot be seamed. If the carpet can’t be seamed, it’s not carpet, it’s not installable, and it’s not merchantable for service. How could you have a textile product which can’t be seamed?

After installation of the first carpet, the mill said it would make the product to fit. But, when you have 200 yards of 80-oz. product, you’d better bring in bulldozers, because that’s the only way you will be able to move it.

Following the complaint filing, we received documentation from the manufacturer the carpet should be sewn or latex and pin taped at the seam. Where was this information at the outset?

As for the installer, even though he asked about sewing, he didn’t employ this method. He could have and should have. The dealer would have found the additional charge insignificant based on the size and cost of this job. The installer instead used seam tape to put the carpet together. He messed up. The seams were found not to be sealed although they were said to have been.

We replicated all the procedures to determine the facts. There was fraying at the seams as a result. There were also some gaps in the seams. There were seams where one side of the carpet was higher. Finally, seams were peaked. Had they been sewn, most of this would have been eliminated.

What is perplexing is the installer’s asking about sewing, for which he obviously had the skill, but undertaking a “normal” installation, which he messed up. We found with this product a special type of seam tape is required. “Normal” seam tape will not adhere to the product’s backing, which consists of a natural, latex rubber.

This is a situation where the mill either doesn’t understand its own product or does and merely isn’t providing written instructions for working with it. Since this is a specialty product sold at a premium price, an installation guideline, separate and unique from CRI’s is required to ensure problems don’t occur.

The mechanic should have stuck with his first instinct to sew the seams. Had he done so, he would have eliminated the complaint and the portion of loss he incurred on this job.

In this case, both the manufacturer and the installer created problems which didn’t have to exist. You can’t go back after the fact and say you should have done something in a certain way if you didn’t provide any guidelines relative to that issue to begin with. Here, again, is a claim which could have been prevented. Who suffers? The end user. What does that do for the industry? It undermines confidence and trust.

Heed this one, simple lesson. Get installation instructions for all products you install. Insist on them, and make copies for installers. Have meetings about them and prevent ridiculous situations like this from happening to you.