Have you ever stepped on a memory foam mat? Laid on memory foam bed? Then you know howcomfortable it is. The viscoelastic part is where memory foam gets difficult to judge. If you read my opinion on frothed foam, you know my opinion on it: it’s a great pad material. Memory foam is made of frothed foam with viscoelastic gel infused. And if you can snag a frothed foam or slab rubber pad for a similar price to rebond (unlikely), you might as well takeone of those because they will be more durable. You also might want to consider something more durable if you haveexcessively high foot traffic, which is usually limited to commercial buildings. This is often true with loop carpets, so be especially careful there. The most important reason is if your carpet warranty calls for something else. It’s one of the cheapest pads, but durable enough to hold upfor many years (this assumes it is the correct density for your foot traffic). Rebond is the sweet spot for most homeowners. Other names: bonded urethane, bonded polyurethane But since it is so durable, if you find a great deal, you should consider it. As far as I’ve seen, frothed foam is rarely worth the cost. So if frothed pad is so durable, what’s the trade-off? You guessed it… the price tag. In other words, you won’t need to replace the pad when you buy new carpet. It’s one of the few pads that may last through two carpet installations. This makes frothed foam extremely durable. The difference is prime foam/standard foam has gas mixed in with the foam when it’s manufactured. Not only are they different, but they’re actually at opposite ends of the padding spectrum. Pros and cons of frothed foam padĭon’t confuse frothed foam with a standard foam pad. The best example is foam pad above, but it’s an important reminder: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. More dangerous, sometimes the “free” product or service is low quality. Sometimes they just charge more for everything else. I prefer 21lbs+ for durability or close to 100 ounces.Ĭaptain’s warning! What’s the price of free? Any time the carpet store is giving something “free,” you better figure out why. 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. 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. 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. But with padding, thicker pad isn’t always the best carpet padding.
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