You’ve decided to have new carpet installed. Yet its only been a few years since your current carpet was installed. Is the padding underneath still okay? Can you get by with shopping for carpet only?
Great question. Lets look at it from a variety of ways.
Carpet padding is simply the foundation of your flooring. Its installed to act as a cushion and a shock absorber between the subfloor and your carpet. When a carpet is manufactured, they stipulate the minimum pad weight density and maximum thickness required to assure this foundation is adequate enough to meet their expectations … and yours. While carpet padding is designed to insulate, add comfort, and improve vacuuming efficiency, the most important role is to limit movement in the carpeting itself. The less movement, the more your carpet stays in shape for years to come. In this case, every carpet comes with its own recommended padding … which may not be what was installed with your current carpet.
Technology also increases every year. And carpeting is no exception. With technological advances and an assortment of warranties on everything from material quality to texture retention, padding plays a big part in holding your flooring together. Just like you wouldn’t use a floppy disk in today’s computer, using yesterday’s padding with today’s carpet can seriously damage the warranty and the life of your new carpet choice.
When you purchase carpet and carpet padding, its easy to assume they are two separate units. But in reality, carpets life cycle stems from the wear and tear on the carpet padding. Yes, your carpet will undergo stress and strain from every day life. It will take the brunt of living – stains, pet odors, dirt and grime – and that must be cleaned and maintained every day. But the padding is what keeps your carpets looking good. Even if your pad is only a year or two old, it still sustained wear and abuse from use with your current carpets. New carpet is a major investment; and because new padding is only a fraction of the investment, why compromise quality? You may lose warranties or years of wear without replacing … why take that chance?
With these things in mind, and considering the vital role padding plays on the long term use of your carpet, its definitely worth the small investment for years of enjoyment in the future.
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