Why carpet padding is SO important
We understand that it’s important for consumers to get the highest-quality comfort for their home. We collaborate with you to create the precise level of cushion to absorb impact, keep floors soft and carpets lasting longer
- Recommended for heavy traffic residential applications
- Reduces energy costs
- Improves comfort – reduces fatigue & noise transmission
- Extends the appearance and life of the carpet
The Main Purpose of a Carpet pad
The main purpose of a carpet pad is to protect your carpet. The pad keeps the underside of your carpet from wearing against the bare floor. It also absorbs the impact from footsteps and furniture, lessening the stress on the carpet. In one study, carpets without cushioning lose, on average, 19 percent of their pile height from wear compared to a five to 10 percent loss for the same carpet with a separate pad.
The carpet pad serves a variety of additional purposes:
- It creates a softer “walk” or feel to the carpet. Many homeowners think this is the whole point of a pad, but it’s not. In fact, the best pad for a particular carpet may provide less foot comfort than an inferior one.
- A pad makes cleaning your carpet more efficient. When you have padding, your vacuum cleaner can raise the carpet slightly and remove more dirt, which helps reduce allergic reactions.
- It provides thermal insulation. A pad stops the drafts that can seep through some porous carpeting. Padding has higher R-value — which measures a material’s ability to keep heat from passing through it — than carpet, keeping the room warmer.
- Carpet padding dampens sound. This is especially important for upstairs rooms, but even in a basement, a pad reduces sound more than a carpet alone.
Before choosing your carpet pad, you should look at where you’ll use it. Think about what kind of activities or traffic the room sees, and choose a pad that can take a beating if you think you’ll be rough on it. If you stand a lot or have kids who will play there, consider thicker padding for increased comfort. Does someone in your home use a wheelchair? They don’t roll well on soft padding, so take that into account, too. Regardless of everything else, when choosing your carpet pad, it all comes down to your particular needs.