Why Choose Carpet Tiles?
The Pro’s and Con’s of Carpet Tiles.
Are you looking for a cost effective and durable carpet for your domestic or commercial flooring needs? Carpet tile could be the solution for you!
Carpet tile remains one of the most cost effective solutions for carpeting areas of high foot traffic and they are the most popular choice for offices, student accommodation, rental properties, education institutes, leisure facilities, and the hospitality industry. With an ever growing portfolio of stylish designs and colour options, more and more homeowners are choosing carpet tile for their domestic flooring.
Main Image: Desso Carpet Tile Jeans Twill AA26 8112
What is Carpet Tile?
Carpet tiles are the quick and easy installation carpet solution, available in fibre bonded, structure bonded, loop pile, cut pile and textured loop pile options with various backings, adhesive requirements and designs. Also known as carpet squares, carpet tile is an alternative to roll carpet and is produced in a variety of sizes, materials, patterns and colours. Most commonly found in commercial and public spaces, you will have likely spotted carpet tile in airports, libraries, schools and offices.
Heckmondwike: Hurworth Primary School - Broadrib & Dreadnought Carpet Tile
There are two main installation types, non-adhesive (which requires the addition of adhesive to attach the tile to the floor surface) and adhesive (these come with adhesive built in and are usually a peel-and-stick process). When considering what floor covering is best suited to your project, the overall design scheme and requirements of the completed floor should be thought through. Further considerations include the level of durability and the size of the space being covered. If you are looking for a carpeted finish but the space is likely to be high traffic, carpet tiles are for you. If you are looking for a stylish and welcoming lounge floor for your rental property, carpet tile is for you. If you are looking for a super soft bedroom carpet for your home, you may consider wall-to-wall roll carpet. If you are thinking about carpet for your bathroom - just don't!
What Are The Benefits of Carpet Tile?
Carpet tile is generally a speedier installation process than rolled carpet, this is ideal in the commercial sector because downtime costs money! It is also a benefit for residential installation as it reduces the inconvenience of having to find somewhere to store your furniture whilst installation takes place as well as the time taken out from doing other things.
Carpet tile is incredibly versatile and can be installed over many surfaces including timber and concrete. A certain level of preparation will likely be required to ensure an effective and long lasting application but because of carpet tile’s ability to adhere to most surfaces, there may be less preparation required than for other floor covering types.
One of the biggest benefits of carpet tiles is that individual tiles can be removed for cleaning or replacement should they get damaged. There's no need to have a side table in the middle of the room to cover that red wine stain anymore, or the costly and inconvenient need to replace an entire carpet because of smaller areas of wear or damage. This is ideal in student accommodation, hotels and rental properties where there is a higher turnaround of people using the space. For example, Burmatex’s Tivoli in St. Martin Sands was used throughout a 12 storey high-quality private residential apartment block in Salford with different colourways used in hallways, corridors and common areas. The oh-so-stylish apartment flooring will be easy to maintain whilst looking incredibly high-end (but without the pricetag of roll carpet).
Burmatex: Tribe Apartment Block Salford - Tivoli St. Martin Sand
Carpet tiles are available in a huge array of textures, designs and patterns so can be suited to any interior scheme. Whether you are looking for something more muted and professional or something bright and fun, carpet tiles can achieve this. Furthermore, because of the tiling system, any number of laying patterns can be created as well as bespoke designs and even inlaid branding.
Take for example, Heckmondwike’s Supacord carpet tiles which were used to create a space invaders themed office for a creative tech company - pretty cool!
Heckmondwike: LiveLink Offices Havant - Supacord Carpet Tile
Carpet tiles are more hard-wearing than most roll carpet types and due to their origins in the commercial sector, most manufacturers create their carpet tiles with stain resistant properties.
Carpet tiles work really well alongside other flooring products. For example, if you could use LVT to create pathways surrounded by gorgeous carpet tiles in your university building to help direct foot traffic, or use linoleum paired with carpet tiles in your office staff room to separate the food preparation and cleaning area from the relaxation lounging area. Carpet tile is very workable and can be cut to follow shapes and edges with ease by our flooring specialists.
What Are Some Disadvantages of Carpet Tiles?
As with all flooring solutions, there are applications where carpet tiles are not best suited - the obvious being areas which are likely to experience moisture.
With carpet tile it is incredibly important to ensure that you invest in professional installation. It is possible to DIY carpet tile installation but what will often be found is that the seams of the tiles are visible and areas can become unstuck and curl or lift at the edges which creates a tripping hazard. With a professional installation you know that the expertise of years of experience will ensure that there are no uneven areas, that seams are not visible (unless desired) and that adhesive is applied correctly to prevent longer term issues.
One argument against carpet tiles is that they can look very corporate. Obviously in a corporate environment that is not a disadvantage at all. However, in more residential environments and leisure and hospitality, it is more likely that a corporate feel should be avoided. If you are looking for a carpet without a corporate feel, there are a huge amount of carpet tile options available. The leading brands in carpet tiles have really responded to this issue in recent years and there are more and more options available. With so many colour, texture and material choices to hand, the design and style of a carpet tile flooring solution is limited only by your imagination! Want to create a soft and stylish carpeted floor for a boutique hotel using carpet tile - no problem! One option could be Desso’s Mode Collection Vista which is available in 42 stylish hues of elegance and luxury - stunning!
Desso: Mode Collection - Vista
Or maybe you have a corporate space but you don't want it to feel ‘too’ corporate - Interface provided an alternative to the usual ‘look’ for this office space in Prague, creating an urban yet biophilic impression with texture and colour throughout using their Urban Retreat, Human Nature, Human Connections carpet tile collections.
Interface: W.A.G Payment Solutions, Prague - Urban Retreat, Human Nature & Human Connection
Carpet Tiles at Hamilton Flooring
Hamilton Flooring works with the industries leading carpet tile manufacturers to ensure that you have access to the best products at the best prices. From Desso and Interface to Burmatex and Heckmondwike, we are pleased to offer a huge range of styles, materials and designs to meet all your carpet tile needs. The carpet tiles we fit vary enormously in style and price and will reflect the ambience of the property into which they are installed. Our team of experts are on hand to advise and guide you to your ideal fitted carpet tiles within your budget and style. With almost 3 decades of experience with laying carpet and carpet tile, the professionals at Hamilton Flooring are your local trusted flooring experts and are here to guide you on all your flooring needs. Contact us today to book your free consultation
Above: Hamilton flooring - Various Office Carpet Tile Installations
Unless otherwise stated, Images are used for illustrative purposes and do not represent work untaken by Hamilton flooring - examples of work completed can be found in our Gallery