Backing Separation
Description
The top of the carpet may start
coming lose from the lower layer under the influence of heavy
traffic or decomposition of the glue joining the two backings. The
backing of a carpet comes in two parts- 'primary backing' is the one
that is attached to the face yarns while the 'secondary backing' is
glued to the floor. These two layers are attached together using
latex glue.
Cause
This is caused when latex deteriorates under
the influence of age and strong physical forces. Though a more
expensive (and hopefully a better type of) latex may not break down
as rapidly as inferior quality latex, no variety is immune to
eventual decay.
Treatment
The primary and the secondary
backings can be glued back together but it might be a costly and
labor intensive procedure. It may actually be cheaper to invest in a
superior quality carpet (backing) or to replace it.