The carpet most of us are familiar with come in shape of role it is also called broad loom.
they come in rolls of 12-15 food wide, where installers cut to size to cover rooms wall to wall. They are usually installed with padding also called underlayment.
Traditionally they are glued to the subfloor. However, they could also be tacked if the subfloor is plywood.
There is another type of modular carpet that is being used in the industry.
They are square shaped carpets that both DIYer’s and pros use to save time and cost.
Square carpets also called carpet tiles come in different designs and colours, they also come in different sizes. some readily available sizes are 18”X18”, 20”X20” 24”X24”, 36”X36” and 40”X40” squares. They are also available in rectangular shapes (i.e., 18”X36”)
Depending on the type and manufacturer, they are typically installed in three different ways:
- Self adhesive, also called peel and stick.
- installed by mastic.
- no adhesives
With carpet tiles you do not need to install any padding.
some manufacturers provide backing with cushion that serves as padding.
Other types have no cushion backing. Because of their tight nit backing, they are more resistant to moisture than carpet rolls.
In heavy traffic area it is always recommended to use adhesives. however, there are releasable adhesives that allow for easy removal of the carpet tiles if they need to be replaced.
Thanks to their modular design, a major advantage of carpet tiles is that they could individually be replaced easily should they get dirty, damaged, or stained.
Carpet rolls cost less than carpet tiles per square footage, however, when you factor in the padding and professional installation costs, it could end up costing more than the carpet tiles for the same area.
For both, wall to wall carpet as well as the carpet tiles Eddy Floor Scraper is the ideal tool to remove them with ease and speed.
Below is a great article from Home Depot about the differences between the two:
