Choosing to educate yourself on the proper care and maintenance of your new, or even "old and worn" carpet, will assist in making one of your largest investments work for you and serve you well, with little time involved in doing so.

FAQ's

 

Q: We're replacing our carpet, what should we buy?
A: There are several important factors you should consider when selecting new carpet including:

  • Appearance
  • Durability
  • Maintainability
  • How it feels
  • Where it will be installed
  • Your Budget

For example, if you are purchasing carpet that you will use throughout your entire house, then you will probably want to pay more for carpet that is durable, easy to keep clean, feels soft under your feet, and looks pleasing. If, however, you are purchasing carpet for a professional office, then how soft the carpet feels under your feet is probably not as important and you are probably not going to choose a textured cut either.

Some rules of thumb to go by are:

  • Thicker carpet feels better but is more difficult to maintain and is less durable
  • Higher quality materials will usually give you better durability and will often be easier to maintain.
  • Overly thick padding will cut short the life of your carpet.

Q: What are some good carpet examples? When should these be used?

Mid-grade Berber is a favorite choice of many, because of it's attractive design and wearability. Each loop acts as a spring to cushion your step, and will leave no footprints. In addition, the nylon Berber will clean well and vacuum with ease. For these reasons, Looped Berber is a good choice for those areas in your home where there is high foot traffic, and is a good choice for stairs as well. Best if used with a 3/8" or 7/16" -- 8 to 10 pound pad.

Cut Pile Berber
Cut Pile Berber is now a very popular carpet choice on the market. It has a softer, more trendy appearance than the Looped Berber, although they are both quite versatile in their use, and come in a wide assortment of colors. In most areas of the home, either one of these carpet's would make a good choice, however Looped Berber will maintain it's "spring," and return to it's original shape, longer than the Cut Pile. The higher the density of the carpet, the more durable and resistent to traffic patterns it will be.

Frieze
Frieze, because of it's tightly twisted and dense fibers, is the most durable and resilient cut pile carpet choice. Saxonies or Frieze's have been in existence for many, many years, although Frieze is a fairly new term for Saxonies. Because of it's resilience in high foot traffic areas of your home, we highly recommend using Frieze.

Sculptured
Sculptured carpet is a unique blend of a high cut pile with a low loop pile, making this a very durable carpet for your home if it is of high quality. Today, sculptured carpet is not as widely used as it was in the 1970's. For many years, it carried the leading edge, and still attracts those people who are looking for a more traditional style in their home

Commercial Loop
Commercial Loop is extremely versatile, meaning that it works well in kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms, porches, basements, and play rooms.
The twenty, to twenty-four ounce gauge of carpet is all that is necessary here. Your workplace is another location where the Commercial Loop will withstand the medium to heavy foot traffic when using the twenty-six to thirty ounce gauge. Commercial, or Level Loop carpet is also available in a thirty-two to thirty-four ounce gauge, for those areas where foot traffic is quite heavy and constant.

 

Q: I'm replacing my carpet, do I really need to buy new padding?
A: The Benefits of New Padding
Once you have made the decision to purchase new carpet and your choice in carpet is made, it will be important to discuss with the flooring technician, manufacturer, or store owner, about which padding would work best with this specific type of carpet. A good padding can add a soft cushion to your step, lessen the noise level in your home, and add a sense of comfort to your life, as well as help to extend the lifespan of the carpet. Although you may not visibly be aware of it, your carpet and padding are working together. If your carpeting shows wear, the padding underneath is collapsing in density and thickness, especially in those high foot traffic areas.


To save yourself the nightmare of having to pull up your new carpet in order to replace the padding at a later date, we recommend that you purchase new padding along with your new carpet, having them installed at the same time. This eliminates the stress of having to go through this process again, and lessens the chance of undo wear in the high traffic areas of the carpet, where the padding is already less dense.

Q: What will void my carpet manufacturer's warranty?
A: Manufacturers are well aware of the fact that new carpeting will last longer and retain it's durability if the padding used, is new. If there is a compromise, and one uses old padding with the new carpet, the manufacturer will void the warranty of the carpet. In essence, padding will endure the lifespan of your carpet, as long as both are new when installed. Considering the options, new padding is well worth the small investment made.

Q: What are the two most Common Oversights Installers make?

1) The most commonly used carpet padding today is Rebond,
Which is made of recycled rubber sponge and other materials. It is compressed, and while still warm, is wrapped in plastic. This is for the benefit of those transporting the padding, by making it more compact. Within 24 hours of using this padding, it should be unwrapped so that it has time to expand. This ensures that the padding will stretch more completely, before the carpet is installed. Once carpet is installed over Rebond padding which has not been stretched properly, the pad will expand or grow, and in many cases, will creep up onto the top of the tackstrip, pushing the carpet up and off of the tackstrip also. The carpet has now lost its stretch, and is no longer hooked to the pins of the tackstrip. At this point, a carpet restretch is needed. Rubber pad, which comes in an 80 ounce weight, or a 100 ounce weight, does not require stretching. In home or office, a good Syntex padding may be desired, however, for areas where there is heavy foot traffic, it is beneficial to use a glue-down application.

2) Before installing your new wall-to-wall carpet,
We highly recommend that you attach your base molding to the wall. The carpet is then installed up to the molding, rather than hidden underneath. If molding is placed on top of the carpet which has already been tucked in, at the time of a carpet restretch, the molding must be removed in order to get a true stretch. If it has been decided that you will do without a base molding, it is essential that tackstrip be nailed 1/4 to 3/8 inches away from the wall, leaving just enough space for the carpet to be tucked in tightly.

Q: You've given me tons of information on carpet but I could still use some more help. Where do I go now?
A: Most flooring professionals will be more than happy to assist you and explain all the highly technical information so that you can make informed decisions about your flooring needs. Jim and Gail welcome you to call or email them with any questions you might have.

"This Is Our Profession,
This Is What We Do."