Advantages and Disadvantages of Carpet Tiles [Complete Guide]

Although it can seem a bit old-school, many businesses and homeowners today are trying out carpet tiles with good results. There are countless carpet varieties available today, and there are a surprisingly large number of benefits that come along with making use of carpet tiles, instead of standard rollout carpet. If you own a business or a home, and you’re overwhelmed by all the different carpet types and carpet varieties that there are to look around for, take some time to learn about carpet tiles as well. While they aren’t the most popular carpet flooring option, they are worth considering.
 

What are Carpet Tiles?

Carpet tiles are specially designed squares of carpeting that are made to lockdown in a similar way to standard carpet flooring. Some of the tiles adhere to the floors using glues, while others are nailed or stapled down. This carpet flooring option is designed to go down easily, and it’s often used with different colors blended together in checker or mosaic patterns to create more unique looks. While not everyone likes the look of carpet tiles, it’s a strong type of carpet flooring that’s coming back in style today.
   

Understanding the Benefits

It’s true that carpet tiles aren’t for everyone and there are plenty of people that aren’t interested in carpet varieties designed to be tiled, but there are a lot of things to like about this type of flooring as well. Read on for a pretty complete list of benefits so you know exactly what to expect from this type of carpet flooring.
 

• Simple and fast installation
• Durable product
• Basic maintenance
• Look variety

 

Simple and fast installation

If you’re looking for a quick and easy to install type of carpet flooring, tiles are the perfect way to go. When it comes to carpet installation, tiles are one of the best products on the market. They go down very quickly and easily and are designed for simplicity. Since carpet flooring tiles are designed to be small in size, they are easy to carry and to position wherever they are needed. This is much simpler than carrying around large rolls of roll-out carpet varieties. Carpet tiles go down faster during carpet installation than other carpet flooring types as well, and it doesn’t take as much skill to ensure that the floor looks smooth and even.
 

 

Extremely durable

Another huge benefit of carpet tiles is their durability. These carpet varieties are made to hold up extremely well over time and they can be counted on to get the job done when other carpet types would have worn out. Carpet tile is heavy-duty and built to last because most of it is designed for high traffic business use. Not only are the tiles tough and designed to hold up really well over time, but they’re also replaceable if one or a few get damaged. Businesses or homeowners can swap out a couple tiles while retaining the overall carpet flooring, which is a huge advantage over full room carpet varieties.
 

Easy to maintain

Maintaining a standard carpet is a lot of work and can be overwhelming for businesses or homeowners. Carpet tile is a bit easier to handle though. Maintenance is as simple as regular sweeping and vacuuming to remove the debris. Every once and awhile the tile can be washed or shampooed to take out any built-in stains and to really remove the dirt and grime completely. It’s even possible to pop out a tile or two, wash them completely and then pop them back into position after if there are really serious stains to deal with.
 

Huge options

Another benefit that many people don’t think about when it comes to tile carpet flooring is the variety in appearance that they make possible. You can achieve the exact custom look that you are going for by using a few different colors in one room. Make up different patterns, mosaics, and special blends of colors for exactly the style that you are looking for. This is much more difficult to do with standard carpet types. If you’re interested in a more unique looking floor that infuses different colors or looks together, going with tiles is a simple way for you to achieve your goals.
 

Considering the Disadvantages

While there are plenty of advantages to carpet tiles, making them one of the more ideal carpet varieties available, there are some real disadvantages as well. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use carpet tiles for your flooring, but make sure that you understand what you can expect from the flooring variety before making a final decision about what to use.
 

• Edge fray
• Risk of disfigurement
• A more broken up look

 

Edge fray

When working with carpet tiles one of the major risks that you’ll take is that the floor will have a broken up look. As the tiles begin to wear out you’ll experience some fraying. This can make the whole floor look more broken up than one solid piece of carpet would. That’s why some people don’t like to use tile carpet varieties. Fraying usually takes years to start showing seriously though, and many homeowners and business owners don’t have too much trouble with the problem when investing in good quality carpet tiles. It’s just important to realize that after carpet installation with tiles, there is going to be a risk of fraying that you need to deal with.
 

Risk of disfigurement

Most standard carpet tiles come with a rubber backer. That’s what makes them so durable and resistant to moisture. This is normally a good thing, but the backer can cause some problems as well, leading to another potential negative with this type of carpet flooring. If you decide to go with tile carpet flooring, there’s a chance the tiles will be disfigured and oddly shaped or warped. That’s because the rubber backer can become warped. This is often because of extreme temperatures, or improper storage, but it can occur after installation in some rare cases as well. It’s possible to change the shape of your tiles by cleaning with water over time, so be careful not to get the tiles too wet, and to keep them in good shape and you likely won’t experience this issue if your tiles are shaped properly after carpet installation is complete.


   

A more broken up look

The final issue is that the flooring itself is more likely to have a broken up or separated look to it. This is what gives tile flooring its signature look, and if you don’t mind the appearance of other tile carpet floors, you likely won’t mind the way that your floor looks after carpet installation. It’s just important to keep in mind that the whole floor isn’t going to look as smooth or as put together as a solid roll of carpet does when you have carpet tile installed. 

Even if you use all the same colors and styles with each of the different tiles, it’s likely that the flooring still won’t seem as well put together as a full roll. This likely won’t be an issue if you are familiar with tile carpet varieties and you don’t mind the look, just make sure that you look closely at the flooring to make sure you really do enjoy its appearance before you have any installed in your own home.

 

Choosing the Right Carpet Flooring Tiles

Now that you know what to expect from tile carpet flooring, it’s time to think about how you are going to choose the right type of tiles for your own needs. There are a lot of different considerations that you need to make, including the different materials that the tiles are made out of, as well as the pattern and overall look that you want to achieve. You’ll need to think about each of these things as well as the durability of the carpet and the price that you want to pay, in order to get the best possible deal for you.
 

Different carpet types

When it comes to choosing between the different carpet types, one of the first things that you’ll have to think about when selecting tiles is the appearance that you want to go for. Many people prefer to come up with certain colors that they want before looking at the carpet varieties available, while others just look at a whole bunch of options and decide on the ones that they like the best. Neither method is wrong, just make sure that you take the time to figure out which colors and style are going to work the best for you overall. You don’t want to invest in flooring that you don’t like the look of, or that doesn’t match your current color scheme. 

Really think about the different colors, and consider bringing home some samples so that you can see the carpet flooring in your own home to decide if you still like the look of the product. One nice thing about carpet tiles is that you can bring just a few home without too much trouble. They are easier to work with than rolls of carpeting, and that makes finding just the right look and feel of carpet simpler as well.

 

 

How to Select Carpet Tiles

Durability

After you know what you want your carpet tiles to look like, it’s time to think about durability. Different carpet varieties are rated differently. Some are designed for high traffic use in an office environment, while others are made for less strenuous use in a home environment. Think about how the tiles are going to be used and make sure that you have appropriate carpet types to meet your needs. It’s alright to spend a bit extra and get a more rugged carpet than what you really need, but it’s never alright to spend too little and get a carpet that’s going to wear out quickly and leave you without a good reliable flooring solution that you can be proud of. Make sure that you invest in high-quality carpet flooring that’s designed to hold up well over time. There are plenty of commercial-grade flooring options that will work well in a home as well, and you should always pay attention to traffic ratings, brand reviews, and reputation to see which products are going to hold up the best over time.
 

Size

While looking at things like color, design and pile length, also think about the size of the tiles themselves. There are different sized tiles available and not all of them are going to be the ones that you want in your home or business. Just as color and texture can change whether or not tiles are a good fit for your home, so can the size of the tiles. Smaller tiles create patterns with more variation, larger tiles reduce the amount of variation in carpet patterns. Become familiar with the way that different sized tiles look when laid out, and choose the size that you prefer the most when shopping for tile carpet types.
 

Price

After looking at things like color, design and durability when looking at different carpet varieties, it’s important to look at the price of the products as well. You never want to buy carpet flooring based on price alone, or you’ll end up with low-quality products, or possibly overpriced products, but you should always look at the price before purchasing and paying for carpet installation. Look for something that you can afford, but that is high quality at the same time.


Carpet tiles offer plenty of benefits, though they do come with some disadvantages as well. With all this information you can decide whether you want to invest in this type of carpet flooring or not. If you do decide that you want carpet tiles in your home or business, take some time to get familiar with the different carpet types, and to figure out which are going to be best for your needs and which are not. Take the time to do proper research, invest in high-quality products, and don’t be afraid to go to professionals for help. That’s how you’ll end up with a beautifully carpeted floor that holds up well over time and looks nice too.