Case Study: A carpet directly glued down has several bubbles and underneath is a white powder substance. How would a carpet inspector perform this inspection?
Carpet inspector face many different challenges as they attempt to figure out what is causing the problems that the clients are claiming. One interesting case that comes up more often than usual is the report of a white powdery substance underneath a carpet.
One cause of the white powder could be the deterioration of the carpet backing. Sometime vinyl and other materials break down and the result is a powder under the carpeting. Another cause could be alkaline salts coming up from the concrete slab underneath. A pH test evaluates this as well as by checking the moisture content of the slab itself.
A third option might be that the clients have used lot of powdered carpet cleaner or deodorizer over the years but haven’t been able to thoroughly extract it. Either they are using the wrong kind of vacuum or the machine isn’t powerful enough to do the job of getting the powder up. This means it has accumulated down behind the carpet backing.
One final cause might be that the carpet adhesive has broken down. This could create a powder between the sub floor and the carpet backing. The carpet inspector needs to determine the origin of the powder. Then, they let their client know so that they can get started on a solution.
Hi.
My carpet ashesive has broken down and is leaving powder underneath. Is there anything i can do to fix it
Thanks
You should hire an inspector to determine the root cause. The causes could manufacturing or site conditions related.