When considering how to make your church interior a welcoming space, one key element is the flooring choices you make. Carpeting is a common and great choice for church interior design, but in recent years the options have changed considerably. In this post, we share the latest information about carpet technology and explain why carpet tile is a good option for the interior design of your church building.
What is Carpet Tile?
Traditionally, carpet was manufactured and transported in 12-foot-long rolls, called broadloom. You’ve probably seen carpet rolls like that along the back wall of home improvement stores. While it’s easy to create a uniform look, broadloom carpet has disadvantages, especially if a section gets damaged and you need to replace it. Fortunately, carpet tile has developed into a superior product that provides a number of advantages over broadloom.
Carpet tile generally comes in square or rectangular shapes, typical sizes are 24”x24” and 18”x36”, although some patterns are available in other sizes, such 9”x36”. More complex shapes are also available, such as hexigons. It installs easily and there is less waste with the installation process, but unlike ceramic or vinyl tile, it provides a welcoming warmth and softness, along with better acoustics. You can also more easily create patterns with carpet tile that can help convey your church design and vision for ministry.
Being Good Stewards with Your Church Building Carpeting
Choosing carpet tile is good stewardship for a number of reasons. As noted above, there’s less waste in the installation process. It’s easy to replace just one or two carpet tiles if there’s stain or damage to the carpet, rather than needing to replace an entire section. The vinyl backing on carpet tiles also helps keep spills from seeping through to the floor.
As with any interior design materials, you get what you pay for. You don’t want residential quality carpeting, because your church building will have a lot more traffic than you would have in your house. Code also requires commercial grade carpet in your building. With commercial carpeting, you want to avoid the commercial grade carpet that’s considered “tenant improvement” grade. These carpet tiles are designed only to last five years, presuming that new carpeting will be installed with each new tenant in an office building. Good stewardship requires an investment in better quality materials that will last longer.
Creating and Maintaining that Perfect Church Interior Design Look
As you can see in this photo, carpet tiles don’t have to look uniform or appear as tiles. Patterns can be highlighted or minimized, depending on how much interest and focus you want on carpeting in a particular area of your church building.
Other reasons to invest in superior quality carpet tile are related to warranty and maintenance. You will want to purchase carpet tile that includes warranties against edge ravel (where the yarn pulls off the backing and the weaving unravels), delamination separation (where the carpet comes off the vinyl backing), and wear. You can also be good stewards by investing in carpet tile with stain resistant qualities. All carpets can stain, but stain resistance allows for easier cleaning, because the carpet yarns are treated in such a way that they release the stain more easily.
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