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Carpet Tile Flooring Basics
Combining the performance and look of carpet with the utility of modular tiles, carpet tiles are a flexible, and increasingly green, option for flooring. They can be used anywhere you'd want area rugs or carpet (some are even designed for outdoor use), can be installed in minutes, and can be replaced one at a time, as necessary.
Pros of Carpet Tile Flooring
Carpet tiles are wonderfully versatile. They are available in a variety of styles, shapes, and colorways, and can be mixed and matched to create a tremendous variety of flooring solutions, from fun, funky area rugs to wall-to-wall carpeting. They are easy to install, and, if some red wine gets spilled on white carpet, just the stained tile can be replaced—rather than the whole room or area, as you might with wall-to-wall carpet. It's also a good sound and impact absorber, making it comfortable underfoot and quieter than hard flooring.
Cons of Carpet Tile Flooring
As with other porous flooring options—like wall-to-wall carpeting—carpet tiles can be difficult to keep clean, as they can collect dust, dust mites, pollen, and other allergens. Depending on the manufacturer and installation options you choose, carpet tiles can also off-gas volatile organic compounds—usually from the adhesive holding them to the floor, or from the tiles themselves—which contributes to poor indoor air quality.
How Green?
Carpet tiles can be a very green flooring option. Manufacturers such as Interface FLOR and Shaw are producing some of the greenest tiles out there, using high percentages of recycled content, offering useful takeback programs when the tiles' useful life comes to an end—often, the materials used to make carpet tiles can be recycled over and over again—and, in the case of Interface, leading the industry in corporate-level green business practices. Check the list below to learn more about where you can get the greenest tiles.
Where do I get it?
FLOR
Bentley Prince Street
Milliken Floor Coverings
Shaw Contract Group
Where do I use it?
Carpet tiles can be used just about anywhere, and certainly anywhere you'd ordinarily use carpet. Though they're easy to replace, the tiles probably aren't best in areas most likely to get spilled on—like the kitchen—or most likely to be wet or damp, like the bathroom.
What does it cost?
Anywhere from about $5 per square foot, all the way up to $30 or more per square foot, depending on how intricate and detailed the design you choose is.
Installation?
Different manufacturers have different systems for installation, but most offer low- or no-adhesive solutions for installation—FLOR uses a one-sided adhesive that sticks the tiles to each other, for example. Even though some manufacturers have slightly different systems, there are a few general rules for installation: Carpet tiles should go over hard, clean, dry surfaces only—not over other carpet, unfinished flooring, or unsealed concrete.
More on carpet tiles:
New InterfaceFlor Tiles
Interface Carpet Tiles
Interface Entropy carpet tiles
FLOR Goes Retro-Mod with Shag and Hopskotch (?) in New Collection
More FLOR: Outdoor Tiles for Deck or Patio
