![]() It depends on your situation, so below I give you the pros and cons of each carpet pads to figure out which will work best in your home. So what about foam padding, fiber padding, or rubber carpet padding? These might work. Or worse, buying rebond could void your warranty. But in other cases, you may overpay if you buy rebond. What type of carpet padding should you choose? If you insist on squeezing the padding, just know the firmer the better. This leads to thick, low-density foam padding. ![]() I prefer 21lbs+ for durability or close to 100 ounces.Ĭaptain’s secret tip! I’ll let you in on the biggest mistake carpet shoppers make when it comes to padding… they squeeze it. Slab rubber pad: Usually comes in 18-22lbs.Waffle rubber pad: Go for a minimum of 64 ounces.Go for at least 30 oz and preferably 40 oz+ (or 7.5+lbs)if durability matters. Synthetic fiber pad:Usually rated in ounces but may be rated in pounds.Go for a minimum of 6lb if durability is important Frothed foam pad:Density should be 12+ lbs for durability.Here is a full list of densities by pad type: Side note: the densities I just recommended are for standard rebond pad. It’s not much more money to get 8lb pad vs 6lbs, andit will hold up much better under your carpet. If you’re planning on 10+ year carpet, I recommend going all out with 8+lb pad. Unless you don’t care at all about how long your carpet lasts (in which case you probably wouldn’t be reading this), you want to go with at least a 6.5lb pad. Pounds and ounces, in this case, are completely different measurements and can’t be compared directly (it’s not just a 1lb = 16 oz conversion). Don’t confuse yourself trying to convert ounces to pounds or vice versa. The range for ounces isn’t as straightforward because you usually only see it listed with fiber or rubbers pads, and these have completely different durability properties. Pad density is the #2 factor in pad durability (#1 is the type of pad… more on that later).ĭensity is typically measured in pounds (per cubic foot) but sometimes you’ll see it listed asounces (per square yard).Expect the pad density to be 3-10lbs for most common padding. Doing your homework is even more important when you aren’t dealing with a reputable retailer. By the time you notice the damage, they’re nowhere to be found. In this case, there is an incentive for them to mislead you-they only have one type of padding and want to get rid of it. They may try to unload whatever padding they have. This is why it’s always important to do your homework, and it’s even more important if your carpet retailer doesn’t have a great reputation.Ĭaptain’s warning! Watch out for “fly by night” retailers and dishonest door to door salesman. What if he’s new and hasn’t learned how important padding is yet? Or what if the store just doesn’t care or do a good job of training their salesman? His inexperience might end up being your loss in a big way. There’s not extra profit in giving the customer a thicker or thinner pad.īut just because the salesman isn’t trying to mislead you, doesn’t mean you won’t get ripped off. The good news is there isn’t much incentive for a salesman to mislead you here. The reason? Thicker pad can have too much “give” and damage these carpets. Short-pile and Berber carpets often call for a thinner pad. It’s usually pretty simple because most carpets call for 7/16″ pad. ![]() The good news is most retailers know the padding thickness you need. Thick padding may not be as durable, and anything over 8/16″ will cause installation problems. In fact, it might even be worse for your home. The carpet gets wavy, and the fibers look worn.īut with padding, thicker pad isn’t always the best carpet padding. If the backing breaks, the aging process of the carpet accelerates. Without great pad beneath, the backing will break. Carpet consists of fiber woven into a backing. In other words, the carpet needs the padding to hold up. In the carpet world, the asphalt = carpet and the foundation/structure = padding. You can have the highest grade asphalt in the world, but it will crumble the first time a car drives over it if it doesn’t have the right foundation. That’s where the bridge structure comes in. The asphalt has to be durable, or it will have holes and need to be repaved frequently.īut it doesn’t matter how great the asphalt is, if there’s no support beneath it. So how do they do it? Let’s start with the bridge… Let’s compare carpet and padding to a bridge.īoth bridges and carpet have to hold up to traffic whether its cars or feet. Why padding is SO important (the bridge analogy) Let’s start with why padding is important.
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