Mystery Case #1

I’ll start with one of the easier ones. It was interesting and I never saw another case exactly like it.

A homeowner complained that her new carpet was fading in the traffic paths. She stated that she first noticed the fading within two months of installation. Though we inspectors try to resist jumping to conclusions before even seeing a complaint, we sometimes walk in the door with some expectation of what type of claim it’s likely to be. The way this case was described on the phone, it sounded like the kind of thing that would turn out to be simple shading, or maybe even the early stages of pile reversal. Those preconceptions couldn’t have been more wrong.

When I inspected the carpet, it was about three months old, about one month after the initial complaint. It was a burgundy-colored tufted saxony stretched in throughout a three-bedroom home. The home was occupied by two adults and two children with no indoor pets. The homeowner stated that the carpet had never been cleaned and that it was vacuumed twice a week.

Sure enough, the traffic paths throughout the home appeared slightly lighter than the the untrafficked areas. However, not only did they appear lighter, they also appeared distinctly gray, less saturated than the original burgundy.

So far, two things about this case are abnormal abnormal. First, it’s very unusual for visible fading to appear within the first month or two of installation. Second, neither of the two most common types of fading are concentrated in traffic areas. Fading caused by sunlight occurs in predictable patterns and is proportional to exposure to sunlight. Gas fading typically affects all areas that are exposed to the air; when gas fading shows a difference between between trafficked and untrafficked areas, the traffic paths usually are less affected, not more.

What about abrasion from foot traffic? Sure, I guess that could dull the pile, but after only three months? On nylon? Possible, but not probable.

Something even more unusual than usual was going on here.

A closer look at the pile in the traffic paths revealed that it’s not exactly gray after all, but it’s covered with what appear to be fine, white fibers protruding above the surface of the pile.

The white fibers are firmly attached; i.e., the pile is continuous-filament nylon, and there’s no real fuzzing happening. Or, at least, not aside from these strange, white fibers.

What do you think? What would you do next?

To be continued…

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