Construction
The look of a particular hotel carpet is determined by its construction, which may be loop, cut, or combinations. In corridors, lobbies, offices, classrooms, hotel rooms, patient care, and other public areas, loop piles of low, dense construction, tend to retain appearance and resiliency and, generally, provide a better surface for the rolling traffic of wheel chairs or food carts. Cut pile or cut and loop pile carpets are very good choices for administration areas, libraries, individual offices and boardrooms.

Carpet performance is associated, in part, with pile yarn density, the amount of pile yarn in a given volume of carpet face. For a given carpet weight, lower pile height and higher pile yarn density will give the most performance for the money. Density is also influenced by the number of tufts per inch when counting across a width of carpet, e.g., a 1/8 gauge carpet has eight tuft rows per inch of width and a 1/10 gauge carpet has ten rows per inch of width; and the size of the yarn in the tufts. Extra heavy traffic conditions require a density of 5000 or more.

Various types of carpet backing systems have advantages of higher tuft binds, added stability, imperviousness to moisture, and resistance to edge raveling. Consideration should be given to functional needs for a particular area.

Understanding carpet construction assists in specifying elements that will provide the best performance in a particular location. Hotel carpet is primarily manufactured by tufting, weaving, and fusion bonding. All three processes will produce quality floor coverings, but tufted carpet accounts for 95 percent of all carpet construction. The tufting process is the most efficient and has advanced technologically to provide capability for a myriad of patterns and styles.

Tufted carpet is produced on machines similar to sewing machines. Several hundred needles stitch hundreds of rows of pile yarn tufts through a backing fabric called the primary backing. The yarn is caught by loopers and held in place for loop-pile carpet or cut by blades for cut-pile carpet. Next, a secondary backing, usually polypropylene, is laminated with latex to the carpet. Other alternatives are attached cushion backings that will add resilience, acoustical insulation, and comfort underfoot. "Tufted patterns are now very elaborate and durable. Patterns that were once only achieved through weaving or printing are now achieved through advanced tufting technology, " says Bob Kokoszka of Burtco Enterprises.


Woven carpet is created on looms that take face and backing yarns and simultaneously weave them into a complete product. A latex back coating is usually applied for stability and a separate carpet cushion is usually used, although other attached cushions are available for various performance needs. Principal variations of woven carpet include velvet, Wilton, and Axminster.

Fusion-bonded carpet is constructed by implanting yarns into a coated backing. The cut pile is produced by slitting two parallel sheets of face-to-face carpet down the middle of the pile. Fusion-bonded carpet is most often die-cut as modules or "tiles" and is usually backed with a polymeric material to provide stability.