Good Nylon carpet for younger children?

[LGHTme]

I’m replacing the carpet in all the bedrooms, the stair way and the loft area. I’m definitely going with a good Nylon and was told Shaw is a good company that stands behind their product. I have 3 children 6 and under so need something durable and will last and hopefully stand up to the occasional spill here and there.

I’m guess all 4 bedrooms stairs and lofts would be around 1000’. I’m hoping to spend around $5-6k, but open to spending more if it means going from a good carpet to an amazing one that will look good in 6-8 years when I’m ready to sale the home. I have very little experience in buying carpet, but was told to focus on these aspects in order.

• Face weight
• Total weight
• Density rating
• Wear rating
• PAR rating
• Twist level

The wife wants something in a darker gray if possible and I’m looking at the MY INSPIRATION III (EA561) as an option my inspiration iii ea561 - atmosphere Carpet & Carpeting: Berber, Texture & more. The carpet is $5 a square foot which seems about average for their carpets, but not not as expensive of others.

Here are the ratings:

Product Type	Fiber	Dye Method	Primary Backing	Secondary Backing	Face Weight	Finished Pile Thickness	Gauge	Tufts	Density	Twist Information	Durability Rating
Broadloom	100% Anso Soft BCF Nylon	Continuous Dyed	Polypropylene	Softbac Platinum	48.8 oz/yd²	0.66 in	1/8 in	12.1 per in	2662 oz/yd³	6.1​	4​

Not sure if I should be looking for something that has a higher “face weight” or Durability rating or not. I would really appreciate any and all comments and suggestions.

 

[highup]

Don't go for a carpet that's overly tall. Just because the carpet is tall doesn't mean it's going to wear longer. Multi-colored yarns can help distract wear and soiling compared to a solid color.
If the style of carpet you have now is something you like, just look for a higher quality version of it. You want a continuous filament yarn which I see is on that chart. Staple yarns are lots of shorter yarns twisted together. They will shed more.
Personally I would go for an 7 or 8 lb 7/16 inch thick pad. The thicker the padding is, the more the carpet flexors when you walk on it and the more carpet shows indentations from furniture. Carpet one stores have a karastan that I think it's called PetSmart. I might be wrong about that name, but the padding has a heavy white skin on it and that can prevent spills from soaking into the padding. It's a rebonded foam like most others. You don't want to get a soft urethane pad. A lot of places sell half inch and I know that's only a 16th of an inch thicker, but I can tell the difference. I'd rather have a thin pad than a thick pad. At 3/8 rebonded foam pad would work also but you would need to walk on it to be sure that it feels comfortable. The thinner and enter the padding the less chance of meeting at restretched later on. That said, you have to be comfortable with the feel of the carpet and the pad. It's just something to keep in mind. Whatever you do don't skimp on the quality of the pad. Rebonded foam pad is fine. They make some heavier rubber pads but they're very expensive and don't have that water or spill resistant surface or covering on top surface of the pad.
Oh wait, you were asking about carpet.
Whatever you choose, one thing to keep a carpet looking good is to vacuum it often. When you see a carpet that has that cornrow look to it in the hallway and in heavy traffic areas it probably wasn't vacuumed often enough. It probably wasn't nylon either. Vacuuming helps keep the carpet pile upright. You will see much more of a problem with that cornrow effect with polyester or other types. This might help.
https://www.carpetcaptain.com/carpet-buying-guide/carpet-fibers/

 

[LGHTme]

Wow thanks for all the insight. I actually read that article and several others as well and just yesterday did my research on "pads". I was actually leaning toward a Frothed Foam Pad. However I haven't done any pricing and apparently those are great, but are pretty expensive compared to a 8lb rebond pad. Like you said though I need to "feel" both to see if the Foam would even be worth the extra costs or not.

 

[highup]

Actually I think the care stand foam is a urethane type foam...... Then maybe again it's memory foam. It's nice and firm and feels good.
The frost foam you're talking about would probably work also but like you say it's pretty expensive stuff. If you look on this page and go down to the frost film it shows a green foam. I've used that one before also and it's good but like you said, expensive. The only one of those that I've used is called Healthy Choice.
https://www.flooringclarity.com/carpet-padding-buying-guide/

 

[LGHTme]

Actually I think the care stand foam is a urethane type foam...... Then maybe again it's memory foam. It's nice and firm and feels good.
The frost foam you're talking about would probably work also but like you say it's pretty expensive stuff. If you look on this page and go down to the frost film it shows a green foam. I've used that one before also and it's good but like you said, expensive. The only one of those that I've used is called Healthy Choice.
https://www.flooringclarity.com/carpet-padding-buying-guide/

Ok I read the article and I do own a firm memory foam bed and love it. However there is a bit of "sink" and based on the article..

"It’s not a good choice for any area in your home that sees a lot of foot traffic but is perfect for bedrooms."

Would it be possible to use 1 foam for the bedrooms and another foam for high traffic areas like stairs and hallways to the bedrooms or is that something not typically done? This would be great and would also help keep costs down a bit as well.

 

[Mark Brown]

Here is the secret that no one wants to tell you about carpet pad
feels good=wears bad
personally I like felt pad, wool felt pads and crumb rubber pad in that order.
then comes
healthier choice, the only urethane "memory foam" I will recommend
Rubber pad
end list.
There is no such thing as a good rebond pad, they are adequate but good is not the word I would choose.

 

[LGHTme]

Here is the secret that no one wants to tell you about carpet pad
feels good=wears bad
personally I like felt pad, wool felt pads and crumb rubber pad in that order.
then comes
healthier choice, the only urethane "memory foam" I will recommend
Rubber pad
end list.
There is no such thing as a good rebond pad, they are adequate but good is not the word I would choose.

hahaha the sales guy from a local shop that came out to measure really seemed to avoid talking about pads so it's funny that you say no one wants to tell you about carpet pad.

When I brought up "frothed foam pad". He said I've never heard of it and kept suggesting the "napa pad". He said they almost always used the tried and true Napa pad from Leggett & Platt because it has a good moisture barrier and is very soft under foot and built to last. However I haven't been able to find any specs on the pad other than thickness?

 

[DarisMulkin]

Yes you can use 2 different pads. I'd use the lesser in the BR's and the best in the hall and steps no matter the type you get. Stps take a beating and there is no warrantee's on any carpet on steps.

 

[Mark Brown]

Here are some other super fun facts/lies about carpet padding that you might like to know.
Measured weights, while this might seem like an all important fact, 8lb pad, 4lb pad, 6lb pad, which to choose? Well, they measure it as a cubic foot of material. So in theory, if you cut your pad up and weighed it at a cubic foot it would weigh X lbs's where X would obviously represent the weight you bought.
It is mostly irrelevant because the density of the filler/binder of the material. Basically it represent that heavier is denser and this is generally true, however with a rebond pad, it can be skewed rather heavily.
Lets look at a 6.0mm crumb rubber pad, excellent pad, dense as can be with a mass of 64 oz/y2 or 22 lbs of density. Its hard as a rock (not quite) but it sure does the job. This particular product gets used a lot in double stick applications where the density is of vast important. Cannot compare that to a rebond.
Let me back up actually....
The function of carpet pad, contrary to popular belief, is to absorb weight transmission. Carpet by its nature is resilient which is to say it will retain its shape when distorted. That is not to say it will retain that characteristic forever, so the padding is designed to take as much of this force as possible. Enter the catch 22 of carpet padding. Soft squishy feel good pad (garbage) makes walking on carpet feel amazing, it is comfortable, feels luxurious and seems to very inviting. The catch is that every step you take will degrade your carpet that much further. As you walk around, your flooring will "stretch" beyond its intended shape and "recoil" after you are gone. This will over time deteriorate the primary and secondary backings and cause undue stress to the face fiber. Enter a firm carpet pad. Sure it is not as luxurious, but the ability of it to do its job is so vastly improved that people need to get over it. Lets take that 22lb crumb rubber, it does compress when impacted, however it distributes weight and "holds" a lot of the load allowing for a much reduced "stretch" on the carpet.
Someone might go so far as to wonder why use carpet pad then? Valid question I suppose, however the reason is the same... kind of. With no ability to be "resilient" most residential carpets will not withstand the repeated impact of footfalls and will matt and wear very quickly.

Long story short i suppose, it is ok to shop for comfort when looking at carpet padding, however it is not your comfort you are trying to achieve. The pad is for the carpet, not for you.

Side note, if installing a cheap carpet (see PET), flipping a house, doing this for inlaws, dont like your family or plan to replace it all in 5 years or less.... buy the cheapest pad money can buy and laugh all the way to the bank. If this is something you plan to live WITH for any extended period of time, do yourself a favor and splurge a little and do not fall for all the anti-microbial, water resistant, pet proof, fire retardant salesman hooplah that gets attached to everything in this industry these days.

 

[LGHTme]

Wow lots of good info about pads. I kind of got the idea about comfort bad firm good, but didn't realize in detail why. It all makes since now. I'm not flipping this home and plan to be in for at least 5 more years (until the eldest child is ready for high school) so I need a "good" pad, but not the best. However I also don't want re-install carpet before I sale the home so I'm leaning more toward a great pad and carpet that will not need to be replaced when I'm ready to move on.

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