When you select carpet, you have to consider many aesthetic as well as technical areas. Here are a few tips you will find helpful while selecting carpet.
Well over a hundred thousands styles and colors of carpet are released every year. The many choices can make the selection of the right carpet a very challenging task.
Carpet is available in several different textures, constructions, colors, and designs – which will open the doors to virtually any interior design that you
can imagine. The combination of texture and color will complement the look of both formal and casual environments, while helping to bring continuity to the overall room designs.
The most important tip to consider when you shop for carpet is the amount of traffic that will be on the carpet. Keep in mind, the area you hope to use it in. The construction and the texture are both key aspects when you select a carpet for a specified area and use.
Carpet Fiber Tips
Nylon, polyester, and olefin are the most widely used fibers with carpet manufacturing. Each display qualities that make themselves great with specific applications and uses. Even though nylon is more expensive than some of the other synthetic fibers. It is also the softest and most resilient. This makes it great for any room in your home, including those with greater traffic.
Polyester fabric is less resilient than nylon although more cost efficient. Polyester offers a high level of resistance to stains. Stain resistance makes it a great choice for areas such as bedrooms or dining rooms that are not sublet to a lot of traffic.
The fiber olefin is solution dyed, which results in a highly resistant stain. Olefin can be cleaned easily. For stains, a water and beach solution can be used on solution dyed olefin, without any loss to the color.
Unlike the other types of fibers, olefin is fade, mildew, and mold resistant. This results in a carpet that performs well indoors and outdoors. Keep this tip in mind, Olefin isn’t very resilient and as a result, it should only be considered with dense, low loop construction.
Carpet Construction Tips
You can get carpets in either plush or berber construction. The berber type of carpets are well constructed with a continuous level loop, while plush carpets are constructed of loops that have been sheared, which results in the strands standing upright.
Berber construction carpets don’t easily crush or mat due to their high level loops. They are however harder underfoot, uncomfortable to sit on or lay down on, and they can easily become damaged by pets with long nails. Berber carpets are well suited for high traffic areas, which include walk ways, living rooms, and entrance areas. They aren’t popular with bedrooms, as their hard texture makes them a less than attractive option.
The plush type carpets are much softer to walk or lay on and they offer better sound and thermal insulation. They tend to crush and mat though when they are subjected to high levels of foot traffic.
The use of nylon fiber paired with a tight low pile construction will help to limit the amount of pile matting and crushing, due to the high resilient nature of the nylon fiber and the added support that is gained from tight construction.
The warranties for carpet ranges from 5 – 30 years, with the general rule being that you don’t cover the stairs. Most carpet warranties will require the installation of new carpet padding as well at the time of installation in order for the warranty to become valid.
