Carpet Construction

Must knows before purchasing carpeting

Cut Pile

Still one of today's most popular constructions, cut pile achieves its durability through the type of fiber used, density of tufts and the amount of twist in the yarn. Highly twisted yarn will hold its shape longer, making it a smart choice for high-traffic areas.

Loop Pile

Here loops are the same height, creating an informal look.  This style generally lasts a long time in high-traffic areas.  Many of today’s popular Berber styles are level loop styles with flecks of a darker color on a lighter background.  This is a good choice for contemporary to cottage furnishings.

Patterned Loop

This style usually has two to three different loop heights to create pattern effects, providing good durability and a more casual look.

Cut and Loop

This carpet style combines cut and looped yarns. It provides variety of surface textures, including sculptured effects of squares, chevrons and swirls. The multicolor effects hide soil and stains.

Density

Traditionally, carpets with a higher face weight perform better and provide great comfort underfoot. Performance wise, it is density that matters. Advances in technology have increased the density of modern carpets so that face weight is not as important as it used to be. As far as comfort goes, it is the padding underneath the carpet that is the most important.

Backing

Backing is the technical term for the bottom side of the carpet. It provides the carpet dimensional stability and allows it to be stretched over a backing. The better the backing, the more stable and comfortable a carpet will be.

Selecting a Padding

Choosing the right padding is just like upgrading the quality of the carpet itself. Density is the most important factors in choosing the right padding. With modern technology, density matters more than the thickness of the padding. As such, most padding is measured by poundage. Be careful because many companies will describe rebond padding by the thickness, however the density is the primary concern when it comes to padding.

Most padding is called rebond padding. It is the most widely used padding in the floor covering industry and consists of high density recycled foam.