 | Doug Brennon has been in the carpet/flooring industry for 20 years. He has been the corporate store manager for Derailed Commodity for the last 6 years. For more information please call 620-395-2141 or visit www.derailedcommodity.com. |
Carpet, Tile & Floor Covering
2010-12-01 14:26:00
Carpet pad...can it be reused?
Question: My wife and I need to recarpet our home, we have pulled out the old carpet and the pad seems to still be good. Can we reuse it?
Answer: I would replace the pad. You don’t say why you are replacing the carpet, but a good bet is that it was wore-out and therefore the pad has had the same wear-and-tear as the carpet on top of it. Over time dust particles filter through to the pad and reduces its elasticity. Reuse of the old pad will also void the warranty on your carpet.
Many people believe the purpose of carpet padding is to provide comfort for your feet when you walk on the carpet. While this is one of the benefits of padding, the main reason for it is to absorb impact on the carpet. The pad acts like a shock absorber for your carpet. The impact from people walking on your carpet can cause synthetic latex to breakdown, backings to stretch, delamination (delamination is the separation of the primary backing from the secondary backing) and unnecessary stress on the fibers of the carpet. The better the pad the better performance you will receive from your carpet.
There are many types of padding with different types of constructions and grades.
Pads come in a variety of densities. Density is rated as a function of weight in pounds per cubic feet. For instance a cubic foot of six pound pad should weigh six pounds.
Bonded urethane is the most popular and economic of them all. It is commonly referred to as Rebond pad. This is generally the most economical of all the pads and is the one most widely used.
Rebond is made from the scrap of high density urethane foam used in the production of furniture and automobile seats. They are bonded together to produce pad.
The denser the pad you choose the greater the performance you will have with your carpet.
I recommend the replacement of padding every time you change your carpet. The pad is the cheapest part of carpet replacement, but is as important as the carpet you decide upon. Make sure your salesperson is knowledgeable enough to help you decide on the pad best suited to your project.
