Polymer Carpet Seaming

A good carpet installation and in particular good seaming will immediately bring a high level of customer satisfaction but a badly laid carpet or unsightly seams may be difficult and expensive to repair and leave a customer dissatisfied.

There are three different methods of installing carpet:
• Conventional installation over felt or foam underlay
• Direct stick to a sub floor.
• Double bond carpet installation using a double bond commercial underlay.

Carpet Seaming may require the seams and cross joins to be treated to prevent the pile unraveling and to help strengthen the seams to improve their long term appearance by:
• Seam buttering or tipping.
• Carpet seam joining using hot melt seaming tape.
• Seam sealing using a liquid adhesive.

Tipping or Buttering to help preventing seam unraveling.
Seam unraveling may result in a dangerous hazard and an unsightly seam.

Cut cleanly between the rows of the carpet tufts with a loop pile cutter. Be careful not to cut a tuft that may unravel later.

Butter or tip the carpet edges and cross joins with Polymer 60, 60% latex adhesive. Work the adhesive into the raw edge to secure the tufts. Carpet tufts in the middle of a piece of carpet may require up to 40 Newton’s (a universal unit of energy) to pull a tuft from the carpet. A tuft from the raw edge of a seam just trimmed may only require 3 Newton’s to be removed. Buttering or tipping with a 60% latex adhesive will restore the seam strength to the normal 40 Newton’s and there by improve seam life and appearance.

Allow a short time depending upon site conditions and the type of carpet being installed for the adhesive to cure before proceeding.

Hot Melt Seaming Tape or Seam Sealed
All carpet seams should be joined using either Hot Melt Seaming Tape or Seam Sealing adhesive.

Hot Melt Seaming Tape is our preferred method of carpet seaming using Polymer PET190 Double Bond Carpet Seaming Tape. For double bond or direct stick installations, bond the carpet to the floor and before the adhesive has tacked up, open the seam, remove the silicone paper from the back of the tape and insert the double bond tape the full length of the seam and join the carpet using a heat bond iron.

On a conventional installation use either gold foil or silicone release seaming tape.

Seam Sealing adhesive is packed in a ready to use applicator bottle and may be either water based acrylic or solvent based (Flammable) and is normally applied to a carpet being installed in either the direct stick or double bond mode. When the carpet has been laid out, seams trimmed, buttered and adhesive spread; run a 3.00mm bead of seam sealing adhesive along length of the carpet at the point where the carpet touches the sub floor or double bond underlay. Gently push the second piece of carpet into the first ensuring the edge of the second piece of carpet is pressed into the wet bead of seam sealing adhesive.

Note: Care must be taken to not cut or damage the double bond underlay when double cutting or trimming the carpet seams.

Our recommendation
RLA Polymers preferred installation method of seam preparation and joining is to have all carpet edges "tipped" with 60% latex and joined using hot melt seaming tape. Flooring coverings should always be installed in accordance with the manufactures instructions.

Further information may be found in our printed literature
"Tips for Making Perfect Carpet Seams" & "Adhesive Application Tips"
At:- www.rlapolymers.com.au
Contact us at:- info@rlapoymers.com.au