Padding - The Protective Layer Between Your Carpet And
by Elmo Theron
http://www.rrcarpet.com
You've taken the time to research what style your want in
your carpeting. Plus, you've worked out the finer details
about the texture you'd like to see on your walls. Now, you
need to spend some time understanding what it takes to keep
your carpeting and floors in their best condition. While
padding is sometimes overlooked as an extra that adds only
more to your remodeling budget, this finishing touch
actually adds more value to your other project's longevity
and overall condition. The easiest way to find out about
which pad is right for you is to discuss this with your
carpet salesperson.
Fact or fallacy: Your carpet style should compliment your
padding style. This is true. Even though you won't see
your padding day-in and day-out, you will notice a
difference in how your carpet looks if you pass up padding.
Padding serves the function of adding a layer of protection
between your flooring and your carpeting. The padding also
adds insurance against wear and tear of your carpeting as it
takes abuse from traffic and stress. Stress such as rubbing
against the floor can stretch the carpet's backing, cause
its synthetic material to fall apart, and separate the
carpet fibers from its backing.
One common mistake in selecting carpet pad is to think that
softer or thicker is better. Carpet pad that is overly soft
has too much give to it, the human foot sinks to the floor,
and this results in greater wear on the carpet. Carpet pad
that is too thick raises the carpet too high from the floor.
Modern carpet is held in place by attaching it to a carpet
tack strip nailed around the perimeter of the room. Padding
that is too thick will put the carpet higher than the
standard height of the tack strip and the result is that the
carpet is not properly attached and may stretch. The
thickest padding recommended is half-inch.
Style plays an important role when picking out carpet
padding for your home. When speaking of style, the look
itself is not the key element; the overall function of the
style is what separates quality among carpet padding. Old
fallacies about certain padding prevent some people from
selecting the upgraded or new-and-improved padding. For
instance, waffle rubber padding was once thought of
too weak of material; however, many manufacturing methods
corrected these complaints and improved its durability.
Another once considered poor performing carpet pad due to
its thinness is urethane foam padding. As long as
this padding is at least ~ inch thick, its performance is
considered acceptable. What are the more popular padding
sold today? The top of the list is bonded cushion or
rebound padding. This cushioning is selected according
to density or weight. The 5 to 6.5 pound density range is
most common. Many lower traffic rooms use 5 pounds; while
the higher traffic areas use 6.5 pounds.
If the finest quality of carpet pad is your style, then
flat rubber padding will provide the superior
performance your seeking. Density of this padding is
expressed in pounds. For residential property, the 19 to 22
pound range does the job but at a big sticker price.
Having some knowledge and understanding about carpet padding
should take some of the mystery out of buying carpet pad.
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