You have spent hours on the plans to redecorate a room in your house. You found the perfect paint color and perhaps just the right wallpaper. You carefully investigated the different styles of carpet, dutifully checking for durability and stain resistance. You selected the perfect carpet for the room, just the right shade and texture to provide the ideal finishing touch for your home. Then the salesperson asks that question, "What kind of pad do you want?"

Carpet pad is the cushioning material that is placed between the floor and the carpet. Most consumers believe that carpet pad is installed to give a nice feel to walking on the carpet. While the padding does change the feel of carpet, the carpet pad actually protects the carpet from wear and tear. If a carpet is installed without padding, the daily use can cause the backing to stretch, synthetic materials may break down, or the carpet backing may separate from the carpet fibers. The carpet pad protects the carpet from the abuse of people walking on it.

Fact or fallacy: The softer and thicker the carpet padding the better the quality of padding. This is a big misconception by buyers. Padding doesn't make the carpet softer - the carpet itself holds the softness. Also, too thick of padding can stress the carpet, causing it to stretch and loosen from the carpet tack strips holding it down along the walls. The best prevention against this happening is to select a padding that is not thicker than inch.

Fact or fallacy: Certain padding material cannot be improved. With today's new technologies and improved manufacturing methods certain padding like waffle rubber padding and urethane foam padding are more durable and have improved quality. As for urethane foam padding, the thickness should be at least inch. The most popular padding in today's market is bonded cushion, also known as rebound padding. The density of this padding should be from 5 pounds for lower traffic rooms to 6.5 pounds for higher traffic areas.

Fact or fallacy: One of best quality padding on the market today for a residence is flat rubber padding, which is also highly expensive for most homes but has superior performance. This style of padding is most certainly one of the best out there and uses a density range of 19 to 22 pounds. This quality of padding is expensive and thus not used in homes very often.

While the cost of padding will vary according to quality and style, the price is well worth its value to your flooring and carpet's life span. Take the time to research which carpet padding is right before installing new carpeting.

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