Chair Pads vs None - Commercial Carpet

Speaking for Bentley Prince Street to a client:

We agree with most other manufacturers that chair pads do inhibit accelerated wear.  We've have made no comprehensive study of the many different options, nor to my knowledge, has the CRI, our governing body, and so we can’t therefore comment on any particular design.   So we do not require them, but do recommend them, assuming of course they do not damage the carpet as you described.

If there is a hydrostatic moisture condition, and/or a space where the relative humidity is unusually high, mold could become a problem under any piece of furniture, such as a file cabinet.  These unusual conditions are not accounted for in our recommendation.   We assume the concrete was tested for moisture emissions prior to floor covering installation, and slabs testing above normal were sealed or otherwise corrected.

The decision is subjective and may not be “all or nothing”.  I have observed most serious problems where some combination of these conditions exist:

1.       When the chair is sitting directly on a seam
2.       The space is occupied more than one shift a day, 5 days a week
3.       The user is moving the chair more than just getting in or out up or down, but across the space repeatedly
4.       When no backing enhancements were specified
5.       When the carpet is stretched-in over separate pad
6.       When installation is defective- i.e. wrong adhesive
7.       When double-stick installation uses too thick a cushion or less than premium adhesive
8.       When the user weighs over 250 lbs
9.       When chair rollers are small and/or few
10.   When backing is repeatedly wet by improper cleaning

Programming Questionaire for Non-residential Carpet

Many years ago I wrote a programming questionaire, designed to discover the basic and subtle flooring challenges in any particular function area of a non-residential building.   I hope to use this blog to rewrite that questionere. 

It is important in the beginning to break the space into function areas; that is, areas where the activities of the occupants are much the same.  Examples: general office space, conference rooms, elevator lobbies.  Many specification errors are made because of a lack of depth in this study.  The complex activities in hotels, senior living, restaurants, theaters, hospitals, and libraries require careful definition of requirements.  Designers may shy away from multiple patterns, in part because of the difficulty of designing with pattern on pattern. 

More to come......