A Brief History of Carpet Tiles

For many savvy business owners in New York, carpet tiles are the number one flooring choice. After all, these tiles have significant advantages over the clunky and unwieldy nature of traditional broadloom carpets.

But how did commercial carpet tiles come to be the most popular choice for commercial flooring?

It's time for a little lesson in history!

Carpeting, as we know it today, actually dates back to the 3rd millennium BC that spanned the Early to Middle Bronze Age. Founded in Eurasia, the oldest carpet in the world is thought to have been made in the 5th century BC (which makes it more than 1500 years old!) Historically, carpets were artisanal, made up of thousands of knots that were intricately woven together to form beautiful art pieces too valuable to lay on the floor and walk on. Alas, carpet technology remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years.

Until...

The 1930's fundamentally altered the carpet industry. A few entrepreneurs came up with the idea of mechanizing the process of carpet making. Almost overnight, carpets transformed from something only the rich and famous would have in their homes to something that the emerging middle-class could afford. It was not until the late 1950s, when synthetic fibers were introduced, that wall-to-wall carpeting became commonplace in the U.S.

In recent decades, carpet tiles — a concept almost just as old as the carpets themselves — have also been modernized. Carpet tiles may be just as old as carpets themselves, but they were pretty much forgotten when low-cost carpets produced by mechanization became commonplace among home and business owners.

Brought to the U.S. in the late 1980s, carpet tiles [in their modern form] quickly became a preferred option for offices and other commercial spaces as they had many advantages over traditional rolls of carpeting. These advantages were logistics, small storage space, waste reduction, various sizes, colors, and patterns, and easier installation and repair.

CONCLUSION

Well, there you have it: a brief history of carpet tiles. If you are interested in buying high-quality commercial carpet tiles in New York, get in touch with 212Carpet today. They carry a full line of commercial flooring in NYC by major manufacturers such as Shaw, Queen, Philadelphia, Mohawk, Aladdin, Durkan, Bigelow, Karastan, Lees, Holytex, Mannington, Masland, Milliken, Patcraft, Cambridge, Aqua, and Blueridge.