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I'm curious - what do they do with the tiles once you send them back?

A little disappointing to hear they look awful after four years...

SPHH - These particular tiles got HEAVY use and were open to various attacks from a Chihuahua puppy for extended periods of time. They served their purpose well and we still recommend them to friends for various uses.

I agree with SPHH. I have looked into getting FLOR but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Knowing that they looked terrible after 4 years does not instill confidence in me. My parents had Beber that lasted 20 years with heavy use.

should also check and make sure they weren't part of the recent FLOR recall...

Any idea where to get new stickies for the bottom of tiles? Mine have worn away from moving the tiles around a few times, but I can't find them on their website.

Hmmm ..... I have two lovely wool carpets. My cat throws up on them with the dedicated regularity of an indoor cat. Thirty years ago I remember dropping glasses of grape juice, cake, milk or anything thing else I was carrying on the same rugs. I have also watched my dad track mud across them - an annual spring event. I have no idea the wear and tear they suffered at my grandparents house decades before my parents even met. They are still beautiful,
I have always been interested in FLOR ... but there is no way you can justify rugs at that price point lasting only four years. Honestly, it sounds like, in Maxwell jargon, a carbohydrate.

Flor looks bad after about two weeks... and don't get me started on when the sticky stuff stops a-stickin...

It seems they do sell the Flor Dots on the site. I should have looked harder.
http://www.florcatalog.com/service/flor/installation_tools.html

One can order new stickies for the bottom of FLOR from the FLOR website. I ordered new ones a few weeks ago. FLOR has redesigned these and now, rather than one sticky spot on each corner, the stickies are designed to stick the carpets together but not stick to the floor. Therefore, it takes fewer stickies per project. I ended up ordering way too many...

I've sent mine back before - it's a great system.
BUT - i have to wonder... they're awfully heavy. is whatever they do do recycle them worth the fuel used in the transportation effort? (delivery truck, air travel...)

and mine too were seriously trashed - try having the cream ones in the city with a dog who gets sidewalk all over her paws 3 times a day!

I have two different types of flor tiles and I love them. I have some in a solid, low cut red that get heavy use (including my cat using them as a scratch pad) which I think still look great after 3 years. (My other is new so we'll just leave that out of this discussion. It's only a testament that I like flor.) They are not worn out at all. I can't speak to every type of flor tile, but you need to consider what you are getting in terms of a pattern, texture and color and which will hide or hightlight dirt. I've always thought most carpets of the old wall to wall variety don't hold up well, with the exception of berber which I think holds up great. Also, I can't think of how many throw rugs I've had in the past that I've just tossed after a while b/c they got old and worn out - I sort of put flor tiles in the same category - I want them short term. It's the wood, stone, or tile, etc. underneath that needs to last forever.

I've been satisfied with the three different Flor tiles I have, and am happy about the polypropelene Flor tiles I have in the front vestibule of my home. I also have a second hand wool-acrylic Karastan rug which I very much like.

I think one needs to account for the type of tile (low, medium, high traffic) and the care give. Most carpet manufacturers suggest cleaning rates that are higher than most carpet owners observe.

I wasn't happy with the FLOR I ordered for my kitchen...it IS a heavy traffic/dirt/food area, but after only 6 months they are gross. I clean them every couple of weeks by scrubbing them with carpet cleaner, but what effort! Last week, I gave up and replaced tham with a couple of brightly striped Chilewich indoor/outdoor mats. Now, I'm in heaven. Never again will I scrub!

Call me a crank but I can't imagine how you could possibly consider carpet that needs to be disposed of after 4 years via shipping UPS "green."

maybe it's a generational thing, but i can't imagine wanting the same carpet for 20 years (or having wall-to-wall carpet, period).

on the green issue, flor's website says they use the old carpet in the production of their new carpet. since synthetic carpet can take up 20,000 years to degrade in a landfill, i think that a company who helps motivate their customers to recycle these products is being as ecologically responsible as is possible right now.

We must applaud a company that is responsible enough to take care of the disposal of its products after they sold it to consumer. It is galaxy away from Hummer and the oil industry.

I met a FLOR rep last week-end at the SIDIM in Montreal which was telling me that FLOR is really concerned by the environment. No system is perfect, we like to consume after all. The FLOR system does not require glue and the little sticker holding 4 tiles together can go on the recycle bin at the end of its use. If on top of that, the company pays the shipping and safely disposes of the product when we do not want it anymore, FLOR wins my trust.

As for the four year of usage, I agree with jerseyfresh that we like to update our style often. FLOR is not expansive for what you get.

They probably recycle them for use in the pad of new carpet tiles.

If I remember the prices correctly, for the price/sq.ft. of FLOR and a 4-year lifespan, I'd spend my $ on a decent wool area rug that should last much longer for the same cost.

my flor tiles were only $8.99 a piece, which was actually comparable to or cheaper than most of the rugs at crate and barrel and pottery barn. (but i know many they have many more expensive options as well.)

relatedly, i just checked out flor's website and they currently have a ton of stuff on sale. rugs that were $12-14 a square are now $6-7, and those that were $29 are now $15. it looks like a LOT of people were having the same doubts about their price point!

I have a Flor order coming in the near future. I've gotta say, having pets, I've run through about $600 worth of wool rugs in the last two years which held up very poorly. Whether it was tufts coming undone and then unravelling in the vaccuum cleaner (a big problem I've had in the past with Berber carpet as well), or by cat scratches, or by accidents from my older cat when he had a UTI, those conventional rugs were a terrible value.

The pile on the heavy traffic Flor tiles is much sturdier to resist pet destruction and if one gets tainted by pet urine, I can simply replace it rather than losing the whole rug. In my research it seems like a much better value, I wish I had spent the money on Flors from the get go.

Also, wanted to remind that Flor tiles are larger than 12x12, so the prices per tile aren't per square foot.

Is it sanitary to keep a rug that is vomited on regularly and has food spilled on it often for 30 years? I'm not sure I would trust carpet cleaner at that point. Also, if your cat vomits regularly, you should check out that pet bowl they posted earlier in the week.