Today was one we don’t see every day, but we see it occasionally – mostly in commercial jobs, but those are usually a little different.
Our Senior tech went to what he expected to be a standard cleaning. Six rooms and a set of stairs. The hidden gem was the carpeted basement. He snapped some photos and sent it to the team. This was a full piece of wall to wall carpeting that had been glued directly to the concrete.
Remembering back in 2016 when we moved to our new space in San Rafael, we had this carpeting in our office and it was gross. I will tell you why later. For our Senior Tech, this was a piece of cake, but for some of our newer guys he had the following advice:
- Stains are unlikely to be removed from glued down carpeting.
- Stains are usually darker in glued down carpeting because there is no pad to absorb some of the substance – no where for it to hide – it goes right into the sub flooring and cannot be removed.
- Stains are being ground into the fibers because there is nothing to protect the carpet from traffic.
- Same goes for dirt. It can’t pass through and the friction is much higher when there is no cushioning. This also applies to area rugs. Pad is important.
- Adhesion can be problematic when you apply water, heat and high suction. It can result in bubbles that won’t go away. This needs a low moisture cleaning.
- Lastly – this is a one shot deal. You cannot repair or replace this carpeting. Your carpeting will be torn to shreds when you remove it, and your subfloor will be a mess to clean up. Glued down carpeting is a commitment for life!
What he did?
Informed the client that stain removal is not possible, cleaned the carpet with a low moisture and low heat process and the results were cleaner and the client was happy! Side note: The rest of the carpeting in this home was typical installed wall to wall carpet and it cleaned up beautifully.
Why it is gross?
We had glued down carpeting in our office for a couple of years. We kept it because the office was prone to flooding in the rainy season (just by the door) and it seemed to make sense, but it never got really clean, it smelled musty and that odor didn’t go away, and it was really hard to vacuum. Stuff just stuck to it. When we ripped it up, we probably should have used haz-mat suits and it took forever to get the glue off the floor. That room is now our store room and we try to block our memories of working in there for so long.
Happy Cleaning!!
