Carpet Tiles

What is the difference between Carpet Tiles, Loops, Squares, Planks?

If you’re new to the carpeting world, you may be lost in lingo and unsure of where to begin. Here you can learn a little bit about some of the popular styles of carpeting, including carpet tiles, carpet squares, carpet loops, and carpet planks.

Carpet Tiles

Carpet tiles are a great alternative to the standard carpet roll. Carpet tiles are installed by laying carpet squares, usually around 1 square meter. Often, designers will choose two contrasting colours and create a pattern with the tiles. This can be anything from something simple, like a light blue and dark blue alternating pattern, to something more complex, like a black, gray, and white abstract crosshatch pattern. Carpet tiles are great for any living space, but are most popular in commercial office social areas and team building meeting spaces. At home, carpet tiles are robust in playrooms and children’s bedrooms because of the fun colours and designs.

There are many advantages of using carpet tiles. Most importantly, it is easier to install than a carpet roll. With rolls, you’ll likely need someone to help with installation, and you’ll have to be precise with your measurements. Carpet tile is much easier to install, since the pieces of carpet are smaller squares and can be positioned one by one. You may even find it possible to do it yourself.

If a section of your carpet gets stained, it iss much easier to replace a few squares than the entire carpet like you would with regular rolls. Plus, carpet tiles can be cheaper, since you just buy by-the-tile and won’t have as much waste as you would with a roll.

There aren’t many drawbacks of carpet tile, but one of them could be the visible seams. Be sure to understand that depending on the type of carpet tile you choose, a visible seam may detract from a smooth aesthetic.

Carpet Loop

Loop style carpets are carpets that are made from yarn being looped many times, creating a soft, textured carpet. Loop carpet comes in many different thicknesses and can range from small, compact loops to larger ones. Carpet loop is great for commercial offices, and heavy wearing or traffic rooms in the house like living rooms. It can be made out of a variety of materials, including nylon, polyester, or wool.

Loop carpet tends to be durable and easy to clean, making it the ideal choices for commercial offices. The tightly packed loops mean that many stains will just sit on the surface and not go deep into the carpet, which means that the stain will come out easier. Plus, many of the fibres used in carpet loop have specks of colour in them, which masks stains very well.

Many people compare loop pile carpet and cut pile carpet. Cut pile is simply looped carpet that has been sheared at the top, leaving no loops. There are pros and cons of each type, so it really comes down to personal preference. Loop carpet doesn’t tend to leave vacuum and footprint indentations as much as cut pile does. One downside of carpet loop is that the loops can get snagged.

Carpet Planks

Carpet planks are a newer design. Similar to carpet squares, these come in smaller pieces and are usually around 25cm x 1m or 50cm x 1m. Carpet planks give you more creative freedom to create a unique and modern look. For example, one of the more popular carpet plank designs right now is a brick style, using alternating colours to create texture.

Some rooms are better suited for planks than tiles. For a room that is particularly long, a carpet plank might fit better than a carpet tile and look more visually appealing.

Now, what kind of carpet should you choose? Ultimately, the kind of carpet that you choose is up to you. The best way to find out what you like is to visit one of our 140 flooring store in- person and see the styles for yourself.