Infloormation

You might think polyester carpet is just polyester carpet, right? Not exactly. There is “old” polyester, PET polyester and PTT polyester. Most of today’s polyester carpets are made from PET fibers, which are basically produced from used plastic soda bottles. While it is true that the PET fibers of today are better than the “old” polyester, they still retain some of the performance challenges for which polyester has been known.

The main benefits of PET carpets are their low price and the fact that when new, they have an unusually soft and luxurious feel. You may hear carpet folks refer to this feel as the carpet having a “good hand.” Two other selling points for PET carpets are their amazing colorfastness and resistance to staining by water-based stain agents. The greatest complaints about PET carpets are their tendency to mat and crush quickly, and the difficulty of removing oil-based stains. In fact, oil-based stains left untreated can actually bond with the fiber and become permanent.

To learn more about carpet and other fibers, please click here.

The challenge was to find a replacement for silk. The United States was in a wartime economy, in the middle of WWII, and we were running out of silk to make parachutes and other military textiles. Embracing this challenge, the chemical and textile engineers at DuPont invented a synthetic replacement for silk, which came to be called nylon. Because of its strength, durability and flexibility, nylon fibers found their way into a host of different markets, including commercial and residential carpet manufacturing.

60 years later, the essential chemical structures of nylon remain exactly the same as they were in their wartime debut. What have made dramatic changes are the processes for dyeing, constructing and finishing carpet products. Decades of improvement in these technologies means significant gains in the way nylon carpets perform on your floors. Fortunately, these improvements extend to both cut-pile (plush) and loop pile carpet constructions.

Contributing significantly to nylon’s success as the world’s most specified fiber for carpet is its characteristic colorfastness. In particular, solution-dyed nylon – where the polymer is colored prior to its extrusion into fiber – is almost completely impervious to the effects of exposure to direct sunlight or bleach! Even when the fiber is dyed after extrusion, today’s advanced technologies for stain and soil protection keep nylon extremely colorfast.

Once constructed, installed and maintained properly, you can expect your nylon carpet to retain its original shape and appearance for many years. In fact, nylon carpet will never actually wear out . . . it just gets ugly once its useful life ends.

Over decades, carpet markets and styles have changed, but what hasn’t changed much is the available selection of carpet fibers! Today, just like 20 years ago, nylon and polyester are the sales leaders for residential carpet. Fortunately for us as consumers, their quality has continued to improve. Wool owns but a tiny piece of the market, yet remains the standard for luxury and comfort.

•    Nylon
o    Has led the residential sales market for 50 years
o    Looks good, resists stain, and performs extremely well at reasonable prices
o    Can be expected to last for 10 – 20 years with basic maintenance (when installed over a quality cushion)

•    Polyester
o    The “comeback kid” of carpet, has overcome a reputation of performing poorly
o    Now accounts for up to one-fourth of residential carpet sales
o    Performs well when constructed properly – with multiple plies and twists in the yarn

•    Wool
o    Known for its distinctive beauty, charm, color saturation and elegance for hundreds of years
o    Grows old gracefully, compared to nylon, which “uglies out” as it ages
o    Performs wonderfully for 20 years or more when given basic maintenance and installed over a quality pad.

Stay tuned for upcoming blog entries, where each of the individual fibers will be highlighted.

If you’re thinking about putting carpet in your home, good thinking!

Carpet may be the most popular floor choice of all time. It covered the floors of ancient homes and probably covers the floors at your neighbors.

Carpet is relatively inexpensive (hooray!), generally easier to install (and remove), and for folks like you who want lots of choices, carpet comes in a zillion styles, colors and textures that blend with all décors, yours included.

Carpet stands up to your life. Developments in carpet fiber technology and construction are producing carpets that are more stain resistant and wear better – they can endure what families dish out.

Carpet is your warmth and comfort buddy. We don’t want to get too technical but you should know that carpet provides thermal resistance. (Called R-value.) In cold weather the carpet in your living room will retain heated air longer. Great for your energy bill…and bare feet!

Carpet softens and protects. Falls can happen. Better to land on a nice soft carpet. It goes without saying that carpet is a comfortable place to sit, play and, ugh, even work on.

Carpet pipes down the noise. That big screen TV of yours and modern sound system can be a blast, but if you need to tone it down, carpet softens the blow, acts as a sound barrier between floors, walls – and your neighbors!

If you love lists (and who doesn’t) here are ALL THE BENEFITS OF CARPET:

• Carpet is the floor covering of real value

• Carpet is easier to install and live with

• Carpet styles, colors and textures are vast

• Carpet matches your style and home décor

• Carpet durability is greater than ever before

• Carpet warms the home, heart and happening

• Carpet cushions falls, tiny feet and all knees

• Carpet absorbs noise, quiets the home front

• Carpet effectively hides subfloor irregularities

• Carpet can be placed over a variety of substrates,
on all grade levels, even over concrete slabs

Feel free to call us at 1.877.525.0066 for more information or to ask a question.

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment here – we’d love to hear from you!

BREAKING NEWS!!!

STAINMASTER®, introduced in 1986, is the most recognized brand name in carpet. They have recently made the decision to pull out of Home Depot.

What does this mean for you?

Pierce Flooring & Design has been chosen as the ONLY Exclusive STAINMASTER® Flooring Center in the state of Montana! We are letting you know that we are here to take care of ALL loyal STAINMASTER® customers!

About STAINMASTER®

STAINMASTER® carpet lasts up to 50% longer and stays up to 30% cleaner than other carpets because of its exclusive fiber technology, lasting durability and Lotus fiber shield, lasting stain protection and lifetime static protection.

You can visit the STAINMASTER® flooring section of our website for additional information. Click here to browse STAINMASTER® carpet styles.

We look forward to being your source for STAINMASTER® carpet in Montana!

Last week, we ran a short contest on the blog and Facebook to see who could guess the number of square feet of carpet we recycled in 2009.

The guesses ranged from 25,321 square feet to 15,000,000 square feet! In the end, Jophiel Silvestrone WON THE CONTEST with the guess of 480,000.

BUT WAIT……….Don’t you want to know what the answer is?

In 2009, Pierce Flooring is proud to announce (drum roll, please…..) that  we recycled:

1,191,042 Square Feet of carpet in 2009.

In other terms: 595,523 pounds diverted from the landfill, 2941 cubic yards, 5,955,210,000 of BTU’s saved or 1,816,339 gallons of water saved.

To lean more about the Pierce Green Effort, please click here.

Thanks to everyone that participated! Stay tuned for new contests to come!

Pierce Flooring has recently gained approval from Stainmaster to administer the first Self Claim process for our industry.  What this means to you, our customer, is that we now have the  ability to react to your needs even more quickly and efficiently. This allows us to manage the process of taking care of customer complaints with our own in-house staff, rather than having to send you to Stainmaster for warranty or performance issues.

We are very pleased to have been chosen for this honor and feel that it is an affirmation by our partner, Stainmaster, that we have a proven commitment to customer service. To learn more about our status as a Stain Master Flooring Center, please click here.

We are proud to be able to share that our customer service managers have over 161 years of combined experience.

Additionally, we have programs similar to this in place with Mannington, Armstrong and Shaw, and are working to put such an arrangement in place with all of our vendor partners to ensure that every experience with Pierce Flooring and Design is an excellent experience.

The Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval program recently certified multiple new vacuums, solutions, and one cleaning system.

Oreck Manufacturing Company of Cookeville, Tennessee adds seven new vacuums to to its collection of SOA-approved vacuums.

Johnson Diversey Company of Sturtevant, Wisconsin has had its Taski Ergo Disc w/Malish Brush system approved at the Bronze Level.

Three new solutions from Shaw Industries have received SOA certification, including:

• Shaw’s R2X Green Stain and Soil Remover Concentrate
• R2xtra Carpet Cleaner and Odor Eliminator Concentrate
• R2X Stain and Soil Remover Concentrate

For more information on the Carpet and Rug Institute, click here. To view our product offerings from Shaw, please click here.

What are your thoughts? Is it important to have a vacuum certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute? Is your vacuum on the list? Was this a factor when purchasing your vacuum?

Did you know that nationally, floor covering contributes 2% of the volume in all landfills?

At Pierce Flooring and Design, our concern lies with the contribution of floor covering waste to Montana landfills.

For the approximate weight of the contents of one 53′ semi trailer (that’s properly loaded) which equals 20,000 pounds of carpet, the EPA estimates recycling this carpet will result in saving the equivalent of 3,000 gallons of fuel. By our estimates, it will take a maximum of 653 gallons of fuel to transport this material. The net effect is a savings of the equivalent impact of 2,347 gallons of fuel for each 20,000 lbs of carpet that is recycled. We will also reduce the impact to our local landfills.

As of Oct 1, 2008 Pierce Flooring has committed to recycling carpet and carpet cushion in all 8 locations. We estimate diverting up to 2,000,000 sq. ft. of carpet from local landfills annually. Or, over 1,000,000 lbs of carpet annually.

The Pierce green effort also includes REUSE. Reuse is possibly the most efficient form of recycling.

Let’s do the right thing…….together. Call us today for more information. 1.877.525.0066.

August 13 – August 22 2009 is our STAINMASTER® Days Sale Event where you can save up to 30% on quality STAINMASTER® carpet!!!

Pierce Flooring is a STAINMASTER Flooring Center®. That means we were chosen based on our high standards and commitment to customer satisfaction, shopping experience, selection and service. STAINMASTER Flooring Centers® are proud to be your premier source for the ultimate selection of STAINMASTER® carpet, where you can shop with confidence knowing that your carpet, and home, will look stylish for years to come.

What do you have to lose? All STAINMASTER® carpet purchased from a STAINMASTER Flooring Center® retailer is covered by the STAINMASTER® carpet Customer Satisfaction Program. If after 30 days of living with your installed STAINMASTER® carpet you are not happy with your new carpet due to color, pattern or design choice, simply contact your retailer within 60 days after installation, and pay the charges for removal and disposal of your original carpet and installation of your new STAINMASTER® carpet, and INVISTA will provide a replacement STAINMASTER® carpet of the same square yardage and comparable grade, quality and value.

Click here to learn more about STAINMASTER® warranties.

Come in to one of our 5 locations and see if there is a STAINMASTER® product that is right for you!