What is carpet tile, its advantages and disadvantages, rules for calculating the required amount of material, features of surface preparation for laying, technology for installing tile carpet. Carpet tiles are squares of polypropylene fiber that are attached to a bitumen base. It can be of different colors and sizes. It is easy to cut and lay this material yourself without the use of special equipment and tools.
Advantages and disadvantages of carpet tiles
Basically, carpet tiles are the same carpet that is currently the more popular finishing decorative material. If the latter is supplied in the form of rolls, then the tiles are supplied in separate squares. However, these are not all the differences between these flooring materials. Typically, carpet tiles have a stiffer backing. It is made of polyvinyl chloride or bitumen and is additionally reinforced with fiberglass. Such a strong base gives elasticity and density to the coating. The tile does not slip on the floor, adheres tightly to the surface and joins. The top layer of carpet tiles is nap: looped or split. The most common size of one module is 50x50 centimeters. Such dimensions give the material certain advantages.
In general, carpet tiles have the following benefits:
- Simplicity and ease of transportation, installation. During operation, damaged tiles can be replaced with a new one without the need to dismantle the entire coating.
- Minimal laying waste. The approximate waste percentage is two. At the same time, when installing roll material, this figure can reach 30%.
- Wide design possibilities: you can combine tiles of different colors, shades, textures, create mosaics, "patchwork" floors, various patterns.
- Environmental friendliness of the material. Insects and microorganisms will not multiply in it, and the coating itself does not emit toxic substances during operation.
- High rates of heat and sound insulation.
- Possibility of using multilayer tiles on "warm floors".
- The pile of quality tiles is treated with a special dirt-repellent impregnation.
- Antistatic coating.
- Abrasion resistance.
- Does not block access to communications installed under the cover.
- Rapid recovery after removing the source of mechanical pressure (no dents remain).
If you want your flooring to last as long as possible, it is recommended that you choose carpet tiles with characteristics that meet the requirements of public flooring. Also pay attention to the type of pile of the material. The anthrone is considered to be of the highest quality. It has increased rigidity and rectangular cross-section. Thanks to the special design, dirt will not penetrate inside, and cleaning consists in removing the dust with a damp sponge or cloth. As for the disadvantages of such a material, it is worth noting the high cost of tiles in comparison with rolled carpet. If you buy products of poor quality, then laid on the floor, they will not resemble a real carpet, but will look scattered. If you have pets at home, then their claws and teeth can damage individual elements of the coating. And it is not recommended to lay this material in rooms where there is high humidity or the risk of spilling liquids.
Carpet tile laying technology
The installation of this floor material is quite simple, and most importantly, fun. After all, everyone can show their creative inclinations to the maximum, arbitrarily combining modules. The main condition for laying carpet tiles is a flat subfloor.
Preparatory work before installing carpet tiles
The carpet tiles are laid on a smooth, level surface. Installation is carried out on a wooden, concrete, vinyl base, as well as on a laminate. The room in which the work will take place should not be dusty and clean.
If your subfloor is uneven, then level it out. To do this, use a leveling compound or lay sheets of fiberboard, thick cardboard and attach with fasteners. Any cracks or holes in the sub-base should be filled and sanded.
In addition, it is necessary to prepare the material itself for installation. To do this, we bring the carpet tiles into the room where the installation will be carried out, and unfold it. Leave the coating on for 24 hours to adapt to the humidity and temperature of the room. This is necessary in order to exclude the appearance of condensation on the wrong side of the tile in porous rubber. Laying damp carpet modules is prohibited. New tiles may smell bad. It will disappear after a few hours.
Calculation of material for the arrangement of the floor
As a rule, the module of such a coating has the shape of an even square. The size of carpet tiles is 16x16 "(400x400mm) or 20" (500x500mm). Usually, the packaging of the material indicates what area in square meters this tile is capable of covering. To determine how many modules you need, you should do the following calculations:
- We measure the maximum length of the room and divide by the length of the tiles. This will determine how many products we need for the longest row. We take part of one tile as a whole.
- We measure the maximum width and divide by the size of the module. Again we count a part of an element as a whole tile.
- We multiply the resulting numbers. This will give the total number of modules.
- We buy 10% more, considering fit and cutting errors.
Floor marking for laying carpet tiles
An important stage before installing the material is floor marking. It is especially important to carry it out if you will be laying colored tiles. The line between the products will turn into a noticeable line. Any curvature will spoil the appearance of the coating.
To lay out a clear pattern on the floor, you need to measure the room and determine its center. After that, draw a straight, straight line that passes through the center point and is parallel to the wall.
Next, you need to draw a second line, perpendicular to the first, also through the center point. You can use a skip for marking.
At the same stage, you can lay out the tiles on the floor in order to pre-distribute them in the desired order. This way you can determine for sure if you have enough styling material.
Features of installation of carpet tiles
Before starting work, you should check that you have all the necessary tools in stock. You will need: scissors, tape measure, stationery knife, steel ruler.
We carry out further work in this order:
- We put the central row. You should start from the central point of the room from the side of the entrance. We install the tiles tightly to each other along the line. This should be done so that all the whole pieces fall in the middle of the room, and the cut parts - at the corners and edges.
- During work, make sure that the pile is directed in one direction. Usually, for this, the manufacturer puts an arrow on the back, which indicates the direction of installation. If you do not comply with this requirement, then the flooring will not look solid.
- After the row is laid in the center, we fix it to the rough floor. You do not need to use carpet tile adhesive. The material comes with double-sided tape. It is not necessary to glue the entire row at once. The tile holder is placed at the corners and the piece holds all four corners.
- We fix the modules along the masonry of the next row - we slipped it under the next one and put a new tile. This will prevent dust from getting on the tape, which leads to a deterioration in its adhesive properties.
- We carefully control the parallelism and perpendicularity of the laying. If the fragment is laid incorrectly, we tear it off and glue it again.
- Before laying carpet tiles, smooth out the pile on the attached parts. So you will avoid it getting into the joints, and the contact will be as tight as possible. You can use a small plastic rectangle for these purposes, like a credit card.
- So we lay the material throughout the room, with the exception of the last row. It will have to be cut. We do it simply: we measure the required piece with a tape measure, take a sharp joint knife, a ruler and a backing board.
- We cut through the pile from the back. We make a neat cut and bend the tile. We break it down along the line.
- If there is lint left on the knife blade, clean it with a sponge dipped in white spirit. Otherwise, the blade will quickly become dull.
- To cut the outer corners, lay the future corner module on the last whole tile on one side and mark the cutting lines.
- We process the inner corners last. We do the markup and cut out first one rectangle, and then the second. We dock them in the corner.
- A notched roller can be used to make the tiled carpet look solid as a single covering. They should walk along the joints in order to confuse and combine the pile of neighboring modules into one layer.
After installing the carpet tiles, you should wait about a day for the material to “settle down”. The room can then be furnished and operated.
Rules for installing sills
Special sills are needed in order to mask the joints between adjacent tiles. They also perfectly protect the flooring from scuffing and delamination.
Their use is justified in the doorway, as well as when tiled carpet is combined with another type of covering. In modern construction, several types of sills are used. They can be made from different materials: boards, metal, MDF, polyurethane. If you need to compensate for the difference in height in adjacent rooms, then an equalizing sill should be chosen.
If it is necessary to overlap coverings of the same height, then you can take a straight sill. It is fixed on screws, nails or glue.
Methods for forming a pattern from carpet tiles
You can lay this modular material in any way. Carpet tiles look beautiful, with the help of which a certain pattern or pattern is created. This way you can highlight the originality of your flooring and show your imagination. Consider the popular options:
- Straight row and diagonal … We place the diagonal pattern at an angle to the walls or parallel to them. We start the pattern from the far corner and towards the exit from the room. You can also cut a frieze from a tile and lay it in a straight line. It is advisable to use material in contrasting colors or shades of the same color.
- At a run … This styling allows you to make many interesting patterns using two or more shades of material.
- Modular grid … This pattern is considered irregular and combines square and rectangular modules of different colors. This is a rather complex installation method, therefore it requires careful calculations and preliminary additional markings on the subfloor.
- Mosaic floor … It is more convenient and prettier to make such a coating by means of small modules. You can compose the composition yourself or use drawings from the Internet. Such floors look great in large rooms.
How to lay carpet tiles - watch the video:
[media = https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = glioFy8qnG0] Carpet floor tiles are a great choice for those looking to bring extra comfort and warmth to a room. It is a practical and beautiful material that is easy to lay with your own hands and easy to care for.
